The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho
by Yo-ma
Summary: Yaoi HieiKurama The YYH Gang thought their Reikai Tantei days were over after the Makai tornament, but those days are far from done. How will they cope against new foes and old enemies? Against shattered hearts and pasts long wished to be buried?
1. Chapter 1 Bonds

Hi! I'm Yo-ma! This is my first time writing a Yu Yu Hakusho Fanfiction, so excuse me if it seems a little out of whack. I'm using characters from various Fanfiction and will give the authors credit in the chapters they appear in.

This is my story, it is YAOI (meaning male/male relationships for those unused to the anime world.) If you don't like it, don't read it! Got that?

I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO!!! So don't sue me I don't have anything.

This occurs after the movies and ovas. 

Thoughts are in _Italics. _***** means a change in scene. 

__

Please Read and Review! I would love to hear anything you have to say! Flames are even accepted!

To Night Light Fairy: Thanks for reviewing before. Your advice was great! I lengthened the battle scene for you and put in * to represent a change in scene, but I didn't change anything else. I have to learn from some mistakes. Thanks!

On with the story!

The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho 

Chapter 1 Bonds

It was a beautiful day in the Ningenkai, the sun was high and bright in the nearly cloudless sky. It was warm and breezy, just the kind of day that one would just want to lay down on the grass and sleep.

All of this was lost to the four Reikai Tantei, who were currently standing in Koenma's office, apparently waiting for a new mission to be undertaken. 

Koenma leaned back in his chair and cleared his throat, "Okay down to business. There seems to be a yokai running loose in the Ningenkai. Unfortunately, not muck is known about him, just that he seems to be inhumanly. His name is Archad. We need to depend on you to defeat him before any humans come in contact with him." 

Yusuke sighed, "So is this what you dragged us here for, Koenma? Another round of yokai hunting? My back's still a little sore from the last time."

"So what? No yokai can defeat the great Kuwabara Kazuma!" Kuwabara exclaimed proudly. 

"Will you shut up already baka? I think the yokai will runaway just to get out of hearing your stupid speech." Hiei said in annoyance. 

"Why you! Just let me get my hands on you, shrimp!" 

"You can try oaf."

Kuwabara howled and was about to dive for Hiei, if it wasn't for Kurama, who stepped in-between the two just in time. "This is not the time for fighting you two." He glanced meaningly at the both of them. "You can sort this out later." 

"Yeah." Yusuke agreed. "Let's get this over with first." 

"Hn."

****

The four appeared from a portal in the middle of a densely wooded area, somewhere in the Ningenkai. 

"This is the last spot the yokai was seen." Kurama told them. "The other sightings were also around here, so I guess he has made a dwelling somewhere near here." 

"Great, lets go and kick some yokai ass! Then I can go back home and plop down on the couch." Yusuke cracked his knuckles.

"Hah, just wait till I get my hands on him! I cut him limb from limb with my sword."

"That's what you always say baka, but I never even see you touch most yokai with the tip of you sword. Don't say things that aren't exactly true." 

"Why you! I'll ring out your neck shrimp!"

Kurama sighed and stepped in between the two _again_ and turned, so he could see the both of them. "Sort this out later will you. We happen to have a mission to do." 

Kuwabara huffed and turned away from him and Hiei. Hiei sighed and oddly, he listened to him, becoming silent again.

Then the shadows behind Kurama started to move. Yusuke turned, ad seeing it, shouted a warning. Kurama dodged to the side, but it was to late, what seemed like a sword appeared from the shadows and managed to give him a deep slash right across the back. 

Kurama fell forward, catching himself with his arm. Hiei ran forward and stabbed at the shadow. It dodged away and lifted itself from the tree it was on, beginning to take shape. 

Archad was man-shaped, but with pitch black hair and skin. His outfit too, was black consisting of a simple long-sleeved shirt and pants. The only other color on his was his eyes, which glowed an eerie green-yellow. 

A Black metal sword was gripped in one hand, dripping with Kurama's blood. 

Hiei hissed at him. No one touched his fox unless they wanted to die a very painful death. Wait, when was Kurama _his fox?! _

Archad smirked at them, "So this is the bunch of idiots that Koenma sent to kill me?" he arrogantly tossed his head to the side. "You'll be easy to kill." 

Kuwabara charged him in a rush of anger, but Archad nimbly dodged his sword and would of stabbed the human if Yusuke hadn't appeared and tried to punch him. 

He swerved away, to come face to face with Hiei, who already had his sword out and ready. Archad growled at Hiei, but instead of dodging, he disappeared. 

Kuwabara looked around for the youkai, unaware of the shadow forming into the youkai behind him. 

"Watch out! Yuusuke shouted and fired off a rei gun at the youkai. 

Archad dodged it and attacked Yuusuke. Yuusuke dodged backwards, narrowly missing having his head cleaved off. 

Hiei swiftly appeared behind him, stabbing Archad in his sword arm. 

Archad let out a cry of pain. "You'll pay for that!" he screamed. 

The youkai rounded on Kuwabara and the others. He began to dodge forward, but suddenly he stopped. 

"What the..." he growled. 

Archad looked down at his feet, to find that the grass around him had lengthened and wrapped around them, preventing his from moving. 

He turned towards Kurama, who was kneeling on the forest floor. "You." he hissed, and was about to disappear again, Hiei, though, was quicker. He dodged forwards and quickly split him in two. 

Hiei turned to the other two. "Only idiots will not attack while their enemy is in shock." 

Kuwabara's mouth opened and closed in anger and shock while Yusuke sighed and shrugged the insult off, he had already gotten used to it. 

"Now will you two stop just standing there, you forget Kurama's injured." 

Yusuke went to help up Kurama, who was smiling at the three in amusement, while Hiei opened a portal to Genkai's.

****

Kurama awake awhile later, his entire midsection swathed in bandages. He groggily sat up and turned, to come face to face with Yukina. She smiled at him gently, "It's good to see you're up Kurama-kun, I was getting worried. That wound was quite deep."

Kurama blinked as his memory gradually came back to him. Murmuring a few curses at himself for not sensing Archad himself, he stretched. "Where are the others?" he asked Yukina. 

"Yusuke and Kuwabara-kun went home, and Hiei just disappeared awhile ago. He was quite worried over you. Oh, and I suggest you stay here for the night, I wouldn't want you to go home in the dark." She smiled again and left the room. 

Kurama sighed and began to pick at his bandages, unconsciously. Suddenly, his hand seemed to come in contact with something. Grabbing it and raising whatever it was to his face, he let out a startled gasp. It was a necklace of silver chain, with a black gem hanging on it. 

Kurama fingered the gem for a second, sensing a light trace of ki coming from it. He closed his eyes and concentrated, trying to grasp the fleeting ki. 

His eyes snapped open when he recognized it. _Hiei's_. _Then this must be...a teargem._

Kurama sat there for a moment in stunned silence as the impact of the situation got to him. This couldn't be...could it? 

Kurama was no amateur in different yokai bonding rituals, and this looked like a proposal if he ever saw one. _The Korrime mating ritual, how did it go again?_

After a few minutes of silent pondering, Kurama remembered. _Ah, yes, the one who proposes gives their chosen one an item of value to them, with a small amount of their ki infused in it. If the chosen one chooses to accept... _

Kurama let a small smile grace his face as he set to work. 

*****

Hiei sighed at made himself comfortable. In all outward appearances, he seemed to be his normal self, about to fall asleep in the tree outside of Kurama's window. In the inside though, his stomach was twisting in nervousness. _Of course I did the right thing. It's no use doubting yourself. _

*****

Kurama allowed a smile to grace his face as he walked home from school. His own piece was completed. _All I have to do is give it to him when he's not aware of it. Hm, That'll be a problem. _

He sighed as he looked down at it. It was a single red rose, seemingly made of colored crystal. In the center of the flower, encased in the crystal, was a single diamond, inflamed with Kurama's own ki. 

_And then it's just the basic ritual, the exchange of earrings and the necklace. _Kurama began to hum a happy tune as he walked to his room. Truth be told, he had fallen head over heels for Hiei the first time he had seen him. But, as the polite minded person he was, so unlike his youko days, he was satisfied with just being friends. _And I thought I was going to make the first move. _

Throwing his school bag onto his desk, Kurama sat down to do his homework. 

*****

Awhile later, Kurama stood up and stretched, his muscles cramped from staying in the same position for long. Going to his window ledge, he sat down and looked out into the clear sky of the Ningenkai. Looking forward, he could see the lights of the city, partly obstructed by a tree's branches. 

Suddenly his eyes widened considerably, partially covered by the leaves, was Hiei, head bowed in sleep. 

"Shuuichi! Dinner's ready. Come down please!" His Mom called, interrupting his thoughts. 

"I'll be down in a minute, Kaa-san!" He called back. 

Letting a mischievous smile spread across his face, Kurama slowly opened the window. Leaning forward he laid the rose against his hands. Then, in a bout of mischief, he leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to Hiei's lips. Jumping back quickly, he shut the window and headed downstairs for dinner. 

*****

Hiei stirred slightly from his slumber, his fingers curling tightly around something in his hands. Eyes widening in question, he came fully awake and stared down at whatever it was. His eyes widened slightly as he allowed some emotion to show on his usually cold face. _He accepted..._

*****

Kurama silently entered his room. Walking a few steps into the room, he was suddenly hit by another presence. Quickly turning around, he scanned the room for an intruder. 

Suddenly warm arms wrapped around him at chest level. Kurama stiffened. The figure pressed his body close, laying his head on Kurama's shoulder. 

"Who are you?" Kurama managed to choke out. 

"Surly you can recognize my ki, kitsune no baka." 

_That voice...It can't be he isn't that tall._ "Hiei." Kurama whispered. 

Kurama was spun around to come face to face with Hiei. Well, a taller version of him. He was still wearing the same outfit, but without his robe and scarf. His bangs had grown longer and his hair was now down to mid back, tied off at the neck with a piece of string. Plus he was that he was now around six feet two, nearly a foot and a half taller than before.

Hiei smirked and gently caressed Kurama cheek with one hand. "Surprised kitsune?" 

"A little, but considering it's you I shouldn't be so shocked." 

Hiei's eye's narrowed. "And what do you mean by that?"

"Him-it-su. I'm not telling."

Hiei sighed and wrapped his arms are round Kurama. "Let's finish this tonight, Kurama." 

Kurama let out a chuckle, "You this is the most open you've ever been to me, Hiei. I agree, let's finish it, now."

The two yokai seemed to meld into one another as their lips met in a gentle kiss. Kurama moaned softly as he felt Hiei's tongue enter his mouth. 

They battled for dominance, tongue lashing out and caressing each other. 

Through all of this, somehow they managed to encircle each other's throats with a necklace, each one holding a different pendant on it's end. 

The one around Hiei's neck was of a rosebud in full bloom, encircled by a black dragon. It's chain though, made it special. It was made out of Kurama's hair, his human hair and his Youko. 

Kurama's was of a closed rose, it's stem encircled by a Black Dragon, with a back round of Flame. It's chain was pitch black, carved out of Hiei's own tear gems.

Kurama let out a gasp of air as Hiei pushed him against the far wall. Warm hands slid down his sides as lips caressed lips. His hands wandered up to the sides of Kurama's face, touching his smooth skin with a gentleness Kurama had never seen from Hiei before. 

Suddenly there was two sharp pains in each earlobe. Kurama broke the kiss, his hands lifting up to touch the earrings. They both seemed to hang, although they were of different shapes. The one on the left was plainly another tear gem, hanging from a thin chain. The other was of his dragon, it's tail curling around Kurama's ear, and it's head dangling at mid-neck. 

Kurama smiled up at Hiei as he groped for his desk draw. Finding it, he opened the top drawer and fished out two earrings. One was that of a rose, it's stem made to hang. The other was of a red gem hanging by a thin silver chain. 

Still smiling, Kurama reached up and attached the earrings to Hiei's own ears. 

Hiei growled lowly and brought Kurama closer, kissing him hard on the lips. Leading themselves to Kurama's bed, he allowed them to fall on top of it. 

Hands groped each others bodies as they strove to remove what clothes they had on. There would be time later to map out each others bodies, but now the mating had begun. 

Fire ranged throughout each others bodies, pushing them forward. Soon both were naked, Hiei's hand sliding down Kurama's smooth thighs to part his legs. 

"I need this, Kurama. I need you." Hiei moaned in his ear, his fingers already sliding into Kurama's hole, slowly stretching him out. 

"Yes." Kurama panted, body writhing in pleasure. "Take me as you please iitoshi. Ai shiteru."

Hiei allowed a smile to grace his face. "Ai shieru, kitsune." he replied before sliding himself into Kurama. 

Kurama arced his back and let out a soundless scream. He clawed at Hiei's back as he slid in and out of him. 

"Oh gods Hiei. Harder, faster, more..." 

Hiei complied, wanting to give as much pleasure as he was receiving. His hand slid in-between their sweat soaked bodies and grasped Kurama's own length. 

Pumping in time with his thrusts, it was only a matter of time until Kurama released violently, spilling over them. Hiei was soon to follow, thrusting once more into him before releasing himself. 

As they lay there in the after effects, Kurama drew the blankets over them. They curled around each other arms around the others hips. 

Within time, they both lay asleep, now brought closer together then their old bond of friendship could ever bring them. 

Outside the stars twinkled in the night as the full moon rose over the sky. It was truly a night to remember. It was a night of things to come, and a love that would ever waver through the long years of life. 

To be continued....

That's the end of chapter one. I hope you liked it. I can't wait for your reviews! 

Oh, and flames are accepted. I would like to know how to improve my work you know. Plus they make a warm fire in the winter. 


	2. Chapter 2 The Yomatsu HaraSakai, part 1

Hi! I'm Yo-ma! This is my first time writing a Yu Yu Hakusho Fanfiction, so excuse me if it seems a little out of whack. I'm using characters from various Fanfiction and will give the authors credit in the chapters they appear in.

This is my story, it is YAOI (meaning male/male relationships for those unused to the anime world.) If you don't like it, don't read it! Got that?

I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO!!! So don't sue me I don't have anything.

This occurs after the movies and ovas. 

Thoughts are in _Italics. _***** means a change in scene. 

__

Please Read and Review! I would love to hear anything you have to say! Flames are even accepted!

To Night Light Fairy: Thanks again for your review! I went over and revised this chapter too. You're the only one who reviewed, I'm so happy about it!

On with the story!

The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho 

Chapter 2 The Yomatsu Hara-Sakai, part 1

Kurama absently wrapped his arms tightly around the almost child-like boy laying beside him. The two were intertwined, neither one in a strap of clothing. It was something that had happened almost every night this week: Kurama would be awakened in the middle of the night by a soft kiss... Hiei would crawl in bed with him and they'd go from there. The little yokai had never been this starved for Kurama's attention before.   
Still dead asleep, Hiei snuggled up to Kurama's bare chest and sighed, possibly smiling as he buried his head deep in Kurama's soft, red hair.   
Kurama smiled, closing his eyes and drawing Hiei closer to him, before he too drifted back off into sleep. 

*****

Although it was the middle of the night in Tokyo, Japan, it was still noon in New York City, New York, and the hustle and bustle of lunch, rush-hour traffic had just begun to die out, if it was at all possible for traffic in the large city to die down.   
And it was here, through the back alleys of the city that a young boy by the name of Jason Murry raced keenly through the narrow passages, expertly dodging trash cans, bums and stray alley cats.   
He reached into the pocket of his coat and retrieved a red, glowing object as he ran ... some sort of jewel. He smiled and thrust it back into his pocket and continued running. He knew these alleys like the back of his hand ... what with all his drug-running and business deals, he needed a way to get lost from the cops.   
Above Jason Murry as he ran, the sky suddenly darkened, as if a huge, thundercloud had choked out the sun. It was nothing ... storms rolled in off the Atlantic all the time, nearly everyday ... and he continued on without another thought to it, neither worrying about the growing darkness or the lack of regular street mice and alley cats.   
...that was, until, an ominous groan soon followed.   
Stupidly, Jason slid to a halt and stopped in the middle of the dark alley, whirling around with a switch-blade knife at the ready. 

"Who's there?" he called into the black alley, tightening his grip around the small hilt of the knife.   
A deep-throated groan angered ... but from behind him.   
The boy had no time to turn around, for he suddenly was tackled flat to the ground, the knife clattering out of his hand to rest beside a pile of trash. Jason yelled what he could before a rough hand grabbed him by the lower jaw and brought him sprawling to his feet. 

"Where's the crystal, Ningen?" it growled.   
Jason Murry brought his eyes around to stare back at the face of a horrid figure, snarling back at him behind green skin and sharp, pointed teeth. The creature resembled one of those goblins he had seen in old mythology books.   
"Where is the crystal, human!" it snarled, shaking Jason back and forth violently. The creature looked the boy over, it's almost black eyes falling on a pocket of the boy's coat. "Thief!" it screamed, raising a clawed hand.   
"Oh god NOOOO!!!" 

*****

Hiei's eyes shot wide open ... he'd been dreaming again, or so he thought. Glancing around the sun-lighted room, he found he woke first that morning, forgetting momentarily that he had snuck into Kurama's room late last night again. He blinked his eyes slightly, blowing stray strands of red hair from his face.   
Kurama's face was inches from his nose, his mate still sound asleep as peaceful and as beautiful as ever. Hiei studied the face ... studied the curve of Kurama's nose and brow ... studied the closed eyes. He also looked his forehead over, then leaned up slightly and kissed the man lightly on the lips.   
Kurama stirred and Hiei drew back ... eyes growing wider. He had woken him up! It was something he hoped he wouldn't do. The red head shifted, moving in closer as Kurama wound his legs tighter around Hiei's ... then he fell silent again.   
Hiei sighed slightly in relief, feeling Kurama's hot breath on his neck. It made him shutter slightly, felling those human emotions of love welling up in him again. 

He felt so safe and secure in Kurama's arms for some reason today... but what if the others found out about him and Kurama ... or what if they caught them like this? Right now? Hiei suddenly felt very vulnerable and began to slowly pull his arms and legs from about Kurama.   
Without warning, the limbs suddenly tightened around his slender body. 

"Don't even think about it, Hiei," Kurama moaned, still half asleep as he tightened his grip on the escaping boy.   
Hiei squirmed. "Lemme go, Kurama," he said quietly.   
"No."   
"Kurama ... "   
Kurama's response was to rake his fingernails over Hiei's stomach, causing him to shutter violently and gasp in his grip. 

"Shit! Kurama!" he whined.   
"Shh," Kurama ordered silently, nuzzling the soft neck before beginning to bite.   
"Kurama," Hiei growled, more forcefully.   
"You CAN get away," Kurama said, opening his eyes and rising to stare Hiei in the face. "You know you could get away ... if you wanted to," he reminded him playfully.   
True, Hiei could easily over-power just about anybody. The truth was, he didn't WANT to leave Kurama's grasp ... really more afraid that he'd physically hurt him in the struggle ... but the image of all the others, standing over him laughing if they were to ever find out, still haunted his vision. He couldn't bare the embarrassment and humiliation ... if that's what the humans called it.   
"I don't wanna hurt you," Hiei growled, finding his usually bastard-ish attitude.   
Kurama laughed, tickling him lightly with the tip of his fingers. Hiei shuttered again, his struggling dying down suddenly. Kurama flipped to lay on top of Hiei, reaching down to kiss him lightly on the tip of his nose.   
"Kurama..." Hiei remarked him with a gaze. "...yer gonna flatten me..."   
He gladly rolled to the side with a sigh, releasing his legs and arms from around the small body, staring deeply into those mysterious red eyes with a look of absolute playfulness. He slid a hand beneath the sheets and watched Hiei's expression.   
Suddenly Hiei gasped, leaping straight out of bed in a blur of black wind. Kurama sat up and looked quickly around the room ... he was out of sight ... probably half way to Makai by now.   
Kurama quickly leaned over the bed and took up a pile of clothing. "You can't go anyplace without these!" he teased, fluttering the black clothes around in the air.   
"Watch me!" a voice called back.   
"Gladly."   
A groan rose up to his ears as Hiei blinked back into sight, standing fully nude before Kurama, arms crossed across his chest, glare set. 

"Okay, gimme my clothes." The material flew through the air and draped over Hiei's spiky black hair.   
Kurama giggled to himself and leaned back on the bed, resting his hands behind his head.   
Hiei's head popped into view, quickly kissed Kurama's forehead and then disappeared in a rush of air out the open window. 

*****

Koenma groaned as he watched the horned blue monster pop through the door. "More paper-work, boss," the monster said, plopping the huge stack of file-folders on the already loaded desk. 

Koenma switched the pacifier to the corner of his mouth and groaned. "I'm never gonna get all this work done."   
"Prob'ly not." George Saotomei stepped forward and handed him a file folder he had kept separate from the rest. "They seem to think you guys need to check this out personally."   
Koenma looked to his right-hand man quickly before reaching out to take the folder with a childish, chubby hand. He opened it quickly, but instantly grimaced and closed the file folder, paling.   
"Gang mutilation in America," George explained as Koenma gathered his stomach to open the folder again.   
The scene in pictures before him was a sight he's never seen before. The corpse laying in the pictures was mostly red from the highly mutilated body ... but it wasn't from blood ... it was just exposed muscle and peeled skin. It was a horrid sight ... the body looked like it had been completely dissected, neatly spliced open in certain parts.   
Koenma raised his head. "Who was this person?" he said, holding up one of the several pictures of the mutilated boy.   
"His name was Jason Murry ... and I've already sent a line out to Botan to check the new Spirits that have crossed over since yesterday morning."   
"This is something a human couldn't have done. The body looks completely drained of blood .... spirit vampires? Tengu, perhaps?"   
George shrugged. "You know best. But from the looks of things, that ningen was still alive when he had his stomach ripped out and thrown half way to Jupiter."   
Koenma groaned, feeling his breakfast welling up. "Get me a line to Botan."

******

Yusuke groaned, pulling himself out of bed, attempting to put order to the matted mass of slick, black hair on his head. 

He yawned widely and stumbled through his cluttered room to the bathroom. 

Still yawning, he closed the door and started up the faucet, glancing at his tired reflection in the mirror. He took a deep breath and leaned down to the cold, flowing water, splashing it onto his face. 

Blindly, he reached for a towel and dried his face, looking over the towel at his reflection ... and the reflection of a floating oar that popped into in the bathroom with him.   
"Botan!" he screeched reeling around. "Don't you ever knock?"   
"Sorry, Yusuke ..." she shrugged from above him, "but we've got big problems! Koenma had me search the recent entries for a new spirit," she began to explain as Yusuke filed out of the bathroom and back into his room, Botan following on her oar behind him. "Nothing unusual there ... it's just I couldn't find him."   
"So? Who cares? What, it wasn't his time to go?" He picked up a glass of water and began drinking.   
"Under normal circumstances ... no, but ... " she pulled out a picture and handed it down to him.   
Still drinking, Yusuke took the photo, glancing it over quickly ... before spitting the entire contents of the glass across his room.   
"Gross, Botan!" he thrust the picture back at her. "Have you all of a sudden begun a sick fascination with disgusting pictures of mutilated bodies? Kami-sama! What's the big deal! A gang mutilation!" he sat down roughly on his bed, feeling sick.   
"Yes .. but ... this one was definitely demon related."   
Yusuke groaned. "I though we closed all the passages from Makai. They're STILL finding ways to get out?"   
She nodded. "But it gets worse ... this sighting happened in New York City ... In America."   
Yusuke stopped cold, staring up at the picture he thrust up to Botan. "Y ... you're kidding me right?" He watched helplessly as Botan shook her blue head of hair slowly. "How? I mean ... is there a door to Makai in New York City?"   
"Only one way to find out. You can bet your bottom dollar Koenma's going to be paying you a little visit here pretty soon." 

*****

Kuwabara smiled like a dumb idiot ... grinning widely and quite stupidly as he took the wildflower from Yukina's hand. "Uh. gee thanks," he stumbled, beginning to laugh like a maniac.   
Yukina just giggled and continued on her way to school, forcing Kuwabara to pick up his pace and join her. "So ... what's up?" he asked, still smiling like a fool.   
Yukina shrugged. "Dunno. Actually, I've been thinking." she paused just enough to provide ample suffering for her boyfriend. " ... It's been kinda quiet around here, ne?"   
Kuwabara face-faulted slightly, shifting his books in his hand. "Yeah. A little too quiet ... I need excitement!!!" he yelled out loud.   
The two rounded a corner, only to meet up with a tall young man blocking their path, sucking intently on a pacifier. "Uh ... Koenma! Hey! Whatcha doing here?"   
Koenma, now in his human form grinned slightly behind the pacifier. "Business."   
"Yesss!" Kuwabara cheered quietly 

To be continued ...

That's the end of chapter two. I hope you liked it. I can't wait for your reviews! I'll be waiting for them. 


	3. Chapter 3 The Yomatsu HaraSakai, part 2

Hi! I'm Yo-ma! I'm using characters from various Fanfiction and will give the authors credit in the chapters they appear in. The next few chapters will introduce some characters from Korogi. Please don't get angry with me for using your character, Yo-mawari. If yuo want me to take the story off of FanFiction.Net, please tell me. 

This is my story, it is YAOI (meaning male/male relationships for those unused to the anime world.) If you don't like it, don't read it! Got that?

I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO!!! So don't sue me I don't have anything.

This occurs after the movies and ovas. 

Thoughts are in _Italics. _***** means change in scene.

__

Please Read and Review! I would love to hear anything you have to say! Flames are even accepted!

To Night Light Fairy: Thanks again! I'll put all of the translations at the end of the chapter, ok? 

On with the story!

The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho

Chapter 3 The Yomatsu Hara-Sakai, part 2

It wasn't long before everyone was notified, gathering quickly at Keiko's ramen shop in the restaurant district. 

Early morning business was always good, but not too crowded to where you couldn't hold a decent conversation. 

Hiei sat hidden in the corner, sneering from being in public... Kuwabara and Yukina were off in their own little world .. 

Koenma was looking over last- minute files ... 

and Yusuke and Keiko were at each others throats .. again! 

"You're not going ... and that's FINAL!" Yusuke sneered up to Keiko. "It's too dangerous! And I know how you get around these Makai demons." He sat back in the booth, closing his eyes and crossing his hands over his chest. "And that's that!" 

*BASH!* 

All eyes in the restaurant turned to the large booth where Keiko had nabbed a wok and smashed it over her fiancee's head. "What are you trying to say, Yusuke? That I'm too WEAK for the job? S'that it?" 

*BASH* 

Kuwabara looked up from flirting with Yukina ... 

Hiei looked up from glaring at Kuwabara ... 

Kurama looked up from staring at Hiei ... 

*BASH* 

Yusuke leapt to his feet, three separate welts beginning on the top of his head. "WILL YA QUIT IT!!!!" 

Koenma reached over and grabbed Yusuke by the shirt, reeling him back down to the table. "You're attracting attention, Urameshi." 

"She started it!" he protested, pointing an accusing finger at her. 

"OH!" Keiko yelled. "So now we're back in grade school! You gonna go tell your mommy on me? ... and don't point that thing at me!!" 

"Why you .... " Yusuke threatened, trying to rise from his feet. 

All hands at the table moved to wrestle Yusuke back into his seat. 

"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Koenma asked, trying to keep his cool. Off at another booth, a group of girls giggled quietly ... Koenma threw them a suave smile and they giggled louder. 

Kurama sipped his tea casually, glancing around the table. "So, exactly what's the plan here, Yusuke?" 

He grasped his aching head, glaring back to the kitchen area, mumbling something under his breath. "Well ... it's obvious that humans can't deal with this ... so it looks like it's our problem now." 

Keiko came back out of the kitchen with an armload of food, setting it down before each of them on the table. She threw a cute smile down to Yusuke who only groaned and glared at his food. "So, what's the deal? We all off to America?" she chimed in. 

" 'WE?' " Yusuke growled. 

Keiko frowned and took up a stray plate, raised the plate to strike ... but stopped short, staring out the window. She stood frozen, plate in hand and raised to pummeling height, staring blankly out the window at the passing cars. 

Hiei, practically hidden in the corner of the booth, volleyed glances back and forth between her and the window. "What? I don't see nothin!" 

Kurama leaned over him, staring out the window, his green eyes surveying the environment beyond the restaurant. 

Through the passing traffic, every once and a while a tall, dark figure would blink through behind a passing bus. It was tall, definitely male, glaring back at the window as the others stared back at him. He stood motionless, only appearing every so often. 

Something glinted in the man's hand ... a long, razor-sharp katana, almost reaching down to the sidewalk. It glimmered around between passing vehicles, the man flashing an evil smile at the group. 

_Something seems so familiar about him, I could swear I've seen him before_...Kurama stopped trying to remember when Yusuke quickly stood up from his seat. 

Yusuke bounded from the table in a heartbeat and was out the door before anyone could react. 

Hiei was next, blinking from view as the group all began to file out of the ramen shop and onto the sidewalk outside. 

Across the road as Yusuke expertly hopped cars and dodged motorcycles, Hiei appeared where the man should have been. He turned around in circles, scanning the environment both mentally and physically for any sign of the phantasmal man. But is was like he was never there ... there was only a psychic residue, almost undetectable from the life around him, floating in and out of his perception. 

Behind him, Yusuke clambered to the sidewalk in a serenade of car horns and yelling driver, surveying the site as he steadied himself. "Where'd he go?" 

Hiei circled again, rubbing the bandanna on his forehead. " Good question." 

A glint caught Yusuke's eye from the bushes, immediately retreating into the foliage and out of sight. He crossed behind Hiei through a mob of pedestrians, shoving his way through to the neatly kept, waist-tall hedge. He reached the bush and began sifting through it with his hands, folding back the branches. 

"What is it?" Kurama yelled, joining them on the sidewalk and pushing through the pedestrians to Yusuke. 

"There's something in these bushes, but it keeps moving. Here, you try." he said, standing back. 

Kurama casually shoved his hands in his pockets and concentrated, watching as the bush writhed before them. It shifted and shuttered, occasionally reveling a glint of metal, but it was soon somehow lost back into the greenery. 

Kurama concentrated a bit harder... Through the foliage, a small, six-pronged shuriken, a ninja throwing star, glimmered into view before scurrying off to hide back in the living bush. 

"That was odd," Yusuke said as Kurama reached into the bush. "Was it just me, or did that thing move on its own?" 

Kurama bent down into the bush, grasping around for a few moments as the others all joined them, gently pulling on something. It seemed to be putting up quite a fight, as Kurama was jerked in and out of the bush, everyone watching on in anticipation. 

Finally, Kurama's arm burst out of the bush, flinging him backwards into Yusuke, his hand tightly clasped around the fist-sized shuriken. It writhed and wriggled in his grip, desperately fighting to free itself from Kurama's grip. 

"It's alive!" Keiko exclaimed from behind them, pushing forward to lean over Yusuke's shoulder. 

"Can you feel that?" Yusuke asked, reaching out to touch the wriggling star. "It's a weird sort of energy ... not youkai ... not kiryoku ... " 

Kurama suddenly flinched, releasing the shuriken with a yell. The small, metal star clambered to the ground and rolled quickly off into the bush, disappearing almost instantly. 

Kurama held his hand tightly, a large gash running down the length of his palm. "Damn it!" he cursed as blood ran off his hand. He closed it tightly. 

Hiei thrust his bandanna at Kurama, pulling locks of his spiky hair down to cover his forehead. 

The two eyed each other for a moment before Keiko reached in and took the bandanna, preceding to wrap Kurama's hand. 

"Great, now we're dealing with ninja's!" Kuwabara cursed. 

"Not just any ninja ... there's a strong aura of power that came from that star. And it wasn't you- ki." 

"This case is getting weirder by the minute," Koenma said silently. 

*****

It was night in New York City, and the entire city population was uptight and panicked over the mutilated corpse of Jason Murry that had been found in a back alley that day. The police were on special alert, out patrolling the streets regularly. 

From a down town dojo, two young girls stepped out of the front door, calling their good-byes to their master. 

"You girls be careful tonight!" he called in a thick Japanese accent. "Stick to the streets!" 

"We will, Tanaka-sensei," they called back, hopping out into the steady flow of late night pedestrians. 

All along the sidewalks, newsstands had displayed articles about the supposed 'gang mutilation' ... every television in the Sony Store window was tuned to the news where they were headlining the story just about every five minutes. 

"Why does this city always glorify disgusting crap like this?" Karyn Miller asked, pointing past her best friend to the television screens. 

"Who knows. If you ask me, half the news people around here are sick and perverted! They make a big deal about the TWA crash ... they go on for days about the subway bombings ... they bore ya with the hostage situation at the World Trade Towers ... but when something important comes along, it's two words, and 'boom-boom, bye-bye'. Sicko's if ya ask me!" 

The two continued on, following their masters instructions and sticking to the streets. Their normal trek home usually involved making their ways through the labyrinth of back alleys. 

They passed an alley they would normally turn down and stopped. Something caught both their eyes, just visible beyond the smoky blackness ... A dim, red glow throbbed under some cardboard boxes about halfway into the alley. 

"What's that?" Karyn asked, tugging on her friends hand. 

"Let's go find out." The two agreed silently, checking their position on the sidewalk and slipped deftly into the alley, keeping close eyes out for alley-thugs as they reached the cardboard. 

The pulsating glow was coming from a large gem ... almost like a ruby, buried under wet cardboard and newspaper. 

Karyn sifted quickly through the mess and held it up in the dim light from the streets. "Wow. Pretty neat, huh?" 

"I bet some gang leader or jewelry thief hid it back here." 

"Then let's not stick around to find out!" 

The two ran out of the alley and continued on down the sidewalks, hurriedly, gawking over the glowing gem. Karyn thrust it into her shirt pocket, watching as the pocket glowed red from inside. 

"How are we gonna sneak that by your mom?" her friend asked, poking at the glowing pocket. 

Karyn stopped suddenly. 

"What?" 

"Ever feel like you're being followed?" Karyn and her friend looked behind them ... but the sidewalk was bare. Occasionally, a stray bar-hag would stumble out on a man's arms, and they would disappear into the night, but other than that, they were completely alone. 

"Just the wind?" her friend suggested. 

Karyn nodded. "Let's get home. This is givin' me the creeps." 

On they walked, glancing about them as they turned down a long row of apartment buildings. 

They were being shadowed ... Karyn noticed this when they turned. She reached over and nudged her friend, paling as she gestured to the other side of the street. 

Across the street, keeping pace with them was a tall man, dressed all in black, carrying a long, slender glinting object. The two picked up their pace, watching as the man picked up his pace too. 

"Oh God ... what if that's that mutilator guy?" the friend whispered. 

Karyn reached down to a passing trash pile, retrieving a length of pipe. "Then we'll just have to take him out ourselves" 

"Yeah!" 

Karyn jerked to a halt, turning with the lead pipe to the figure across the street. "What the hell are you following us for?!!" she yelled loudly. 

The figure stopped and turned toward her ... and in an instant he was to the other side of the street, glaring down on her. 

"The gem ... give it to me, wench!" 

The two girls screamed and stumbled back. "Shit, he can move!" the friend yelled. 

The man reached a long arm out to his side, clutching a long katana. "You have my gem. GIVE IT TO ME!!" 

Down the sidewalk a ways, a flash of light brought a lumbering shadow into sight. 

"The jewel!" it bellowed, running forward toward the three. "My lovely! Give it to me, thief!" 

A horrid looking thing brandishing a reaping scythe blinked in and out of the musty street light, heading straight for them. 

"RUN KARYN!!!" 

The girls burst off across the street, screaming at the tops of their lungs. 

*****

An old man settled calmly down in a battered sofa and flipped on the television. 

"In updating the Manhattan Mutilation story .. " 

*click* 

"In other news, there still have been no leads as to the mutilated body of ..." 

*click* 

"and the boy's parent's ... " 

*click* 

*click* 

*click* 

The old man huffed and turned the TV off. "Damn city." 

Just then, a blood curtailing scream burst through the open windows, startling the old man up out of the chair. 

"What in bloody blazes ... " he staggered for the phone and dialed 

9-1-1, watching the two girls race down the sidewalk past his apartment window. 

*****

Hiei stepped through the portal first and onto the dark streets of New York City, wrinkling his nose at the musty smell that wafted from the rained streets. 

Behind him, everyone started stepping out carefully, surveying the streets before them. They were on a residential, inner-city street, lined on both sides with apartment buildings, lit only by the occasional dim street lamp. 

"I guess this isn't the ritzy part of town," Yusuke sneered, shoving his hands in his pocket. "But, I guess things could be worse." 

From down the long street-way, a blood-curdling scream bounced off the buildings up to them, running their veins' cold. Through the dim lights, two girls ran quickly, tailed by a lumbering figure brandishing what looked like a sawed-off reaping scythe. 

"You were saying?" Hiei growled, dissipating into the air. 

"We can't out-run him, Karyn!" 

"My house is just a little farther down ... " 

The man in black suddenly appeared before them, warping into existence, raising the long katana over his head. He eyed Karyn's glowing pocket ... 

The two girls turned on their heels only to see the lumbering goblin galloping up the street ... 

....the man in black swung the long katana and they braced themselves... 

*CLANG!!* 

The sound of metal against metal echoed throughout the street in an eerie, reverberating whine. Karyn opened a cautious eye to find a short boy before her, his spiky hair almost reaching up to her chin. He expertly held his own katana before him, having successfully blocked the attack. 

"REI-KEN!!" came a bellowing cry from beyond the two in black. A flash of yellow light burst into view, heading strait towards them, swinging oddly through the air. 

"Modorimasite," the child with the spiky, black hair growled, pushing back the attack. 

Karyn and her friend turned, only to find the goblin in mid swing. "AAHHHH!!!" they screamed, ducking the swing and stumbling out into the street 

The yellow, lightning-like light whipped before them, wielded by a tall, goofy looking man with red hair. He yelled something to the goblin in a language the two girls didn't understand, and preceded to land well-aimed blows. 

*****

Kurama slid to a halt as Yusuke and Koenma pushed past. 

"Keep the girls back there!" Yusuke yelled, beginning to gather his power. 

Keiko and Yukina ran up next, each being caught on the shoulders by Kurama. "Stay back. This isn't something either of you can handle." 

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that, Kurama!"Keiko said firmly. 

"I'm telling you ... stay here!" and he ran off to the battle as Koenma came to join him. 

******

Karyn and her friend ducked out of the battle, barely missing the whirling blades. The five new people were involved heavily in the battle now, ganging up two and three at a time against their attackers ... and not having much luck. 

The little boy with the spiky black hair moved like the wind, almost invisibly, but the tall man in black blocked every strike and then some. 

"This is nuts!" Karyn yelled to her friend. "Let's get outta here. Ya with me?" Without another word, the two took to their feet. 

"OI!! Tomemasu!!" One of them yelled. "Koenma-san! Shoujo!" 

"Keep running!" Karyn yelled. 

*******

Kurama noticed the two girls get up and run as he dodged a scythe attack. "HEY!! Stop!!" he yelled, but they continued running. He leapt back from the battle. "Koenma! The young girls!" 

Koenma slid to a halt, watching the two girls rush by him. He turned quickly to chase after them. "This isn't what I came along for!" he groaned to himself. 

*******

Hiei stepped back, breathing heavily as he glared down the man before him. "Who the hell are you anyway?" he growled, grasping the hilt of his sword. He could of sworn he had faced this sword style before, he just couldn't remember where. Hiei shrugged it off and focused on the fight again. This wasn't a time to let his thoughts wander. 

The man only smiled as a slight breeze struck up. It ruffled the hair concentrated around Hiei's forehead and reveled slight glimpses of a purple object .. Hiei's jagan .. his third eye. 

The man grinned. "Youkai? In the Ningenkai? You are looking for more trouble than you're worth, little one." 

"Watch who you're calling 'little'!!" 

"And such a temper!" He laughed slightly, lowering his katana. "I admire your swordsmanship, little youkai. Perhaps you can help me." 

"I'll help you alright ... to a hole in the head!" he raised his blade to strike. 

Behind them, the battle with the tengu took a sudden turn as Kuwabara landed a blow, completely severing one of the razor-clawed arms. Quickly it reeled back, disappearing into a brilliant vortex of light, leaving behind a trail of oozing, purple gook. 

All attention turned to the tall man. 

He stood confidently in place, one hand in the pocket of his pants, the other gently gripping the hilt of the long katana. 

"You're outnumbered," Yusuke said boldly 

"Perhaps." The man sheathed the katana. "Mark my words, I WILL be back." and he vanished in a puff of wind. 

*****

Get your hands offa me, pervert!!" Karyn yelled, kicking and screaming. She furiously tried her martial arts techniques, but the man's grip was like stone. She clawed and bit at the hands, trying to get away. 

"ITTAI!!!" the man screamed, releasing his grip. Karyn crashed to the pavement, turning on her back to stare up at the man, holding and cradling his hand. He cursed and wiped a hand across his forehead, chewing intently on what looked like a pacifier in his mouth. 

Karyn stared strangely up at the man as he began to shake the life back into his hand. "K'so!" he cursed, waving around his bitten hand and muttering to himself. 

Behind him, the others ran up quickly, joining the dancing man, beginning a conversation in some oriental language. Karyn fingered the gem in her pocket as she got to her feet, keeping a close eye on the group. 

A woman with flowing red hair and green eyes stepped forward, bowing. "Hajimemashite," she smiled. "Watashi no Kurama desu. Dozo yoroshiku." 

"Yeah, hadji-whatever to you too," she said backing up, keeping close eyes on the group of strange visitors. 

A man with slick, black hair elbowed the dancing man, conversing quickly. The dancing man lowered his hands and closed his eyes, softly chanting to himself. 

Karyn felt her ears pop, and suddenly a string of familiar words began to come to her ears. 

" ... and I told him I could do it on my own .. and the idiot insisted that I let him fix it," a woman was saying, walking up to the group with a younger, blue-haired girl. "Needless to say ... " she eyed one of the men " ... he totally destroyed it!" 

"HEY!!" 

Karyn backed up a few paces. "This is just too gonzo for me! I'm outta here!" and she turned to run ... only to come face to face with the short boy, a third, purple eye glaring her down. 

"AHH!!" she screamed, reeling back. "Just who the hell are all of you!" 

Kuwabara stepped forward, dissipating the spirit sword. "I'm Kuwabara. .." and a volley of introductions followed. 

"Weird names," she said. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going home." 

"Hold it right there," Yusuke said. "Exactly what were those two after you and your friend for?" He pointed down to her glowing pocket. "Couldn't have anything to do with that thing in your pocket, would it?" 

Karyn shot a hand to the pocket. "Why would they want this?" she said, pulling the jewel from the folds of her shirt. 

The group's eyes widened. 

"It's that power again!" Yusuke awed, reaching a hand over the gem. "The same power that came of that shuriken back in Tsukiji." 

Kurama rubbed his hand. "You're right." The woman turned to Hiei. "Can you and Kuwabara find that opening to Makai?" 

"It's not Makai," came his reply, quickly. Hiei's expression turned to one Kurama had never seen before. He tried desperately to read the face ... analyzing the features as Hiei's brow twitched every so often. 

"Not Makai? Then where did that tengu come from?" Yusuke broke the silence. 

To be Continued...

Translations:

youkai- demon from the Makai 

youki- spirit, aura 

kiryoku- type of youki, found in demons from the Netherworld 

-sensei- teacher

rei-ken- spirit sword

Modorimasite- Get away

Tomemasu- Stop 

Shoujo- Young girls

Ningenkai- human world

tengu- type of youkai 

ittai- that hurts 

K'so- shit

Hajimemashite- It's nice to meet you

Watashi no Kurama desu. Dozo yoroshiku.- My name is Kurama. I mean you no harm.

I need more reviews, help! Please! I'm at a writers block and I need your help. 


	4. Chapter 4 The Yomatsu HaraSakai, part 3

Hi! I'm Yo-ma! I'm using characters from various Fanfiction and will give the authors credit in the chapters they appear in. The next few chapters will introduce some characters from Korogi. Please don't get angry with me for using your character, Yo-mawari. If you want me to take the story off of FanFiction.Net, please tell me. 

This is my story, it is YAOI (meaning male/male relationships for those unused to the anime world.) If you don't like it, don't read it! Got that?

I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO!!! So don't sue me I don't have any money.

This occurs after the movies and ovas. 

Thoughts are in _Italics. _***** means change in scene.

__

Please Read and Review! I would love to hear anything you have to say! Flames are even accepted!

To Mistal, Autumn Priestess: I have to thank you! You inspired me to write this chapter. So, this chapter is for you! I hope you like it. 

To Night Light Fairy: I'll have an explanation on who Yo-mawari is at the end o this chapter. I wasn't going to tell you the story until you meet Keine, (he doesn't come until much later), but I'll put a small amount at the end. Kurama and Hiei are still in a relationship, although I agree it is a little confusing so far. I'm starting to focus on others characters too, so I won't showing it off too much. Plus, Yuusuke and the others don't know yet, so Hiei wouldn't be openly worried about Kurama around them. 

On with the story!

The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho 

Chapter 4 The Yomatsu Hara-Sakai, part 3

Koenma and Hiei each exchanged a glance. "There's another plain of existence, isn't there?" Koenma asked silently through the wet streets of night-time New York City. 

Hiei nodded. "I heard about it in legends long ago. There was a plain that once existed called Yoru no Kuni ... the Lands of Night." 

He took a deep breath, though he was never one for story telling and quickly tried to change the subject. It was all he could muster to keep from falling asleep when the group started up on their stories of past battles and the whole lot. 

"Go on ... " Koenma beckoned. 

Hiei glanced to Yukina quickly ... maybe this wasn't the brightest idea. He was sure she would have heard the legends too, long ago from the ancestors in their tribe ... finding out now that HE was her lost brother would most likely devastated her. 

"Hiei!" Kuwabara yelled, bonking the little guy on the noggin. 

He snarled up to the tall man, receiving a comforting hand on the shoulder from Kurama. Hiei desperately put his anger to the back of his mind and began. 

"Back at the creation of the world, the Yoru no Kuni was the entire underground of the universe ... housing the Underworld and all the evil. It was split apart by fighting demon generals ... from that came Makai, Meikai and a number of other separate underworlds. But when the demon generals began to invade Ningenkai, their homelands were also invaded and thought to have been destroyed ... leaving only Makai and Meikai intact." 

He raised a cautious eye to Yukina who appeared to be clueless at this point in time, listening on intently. "The boundary between the other two worlds that were supposedly destroyed was Yomatsu Hara-Sakai ... the Bounds of Night. That was where the demons, spirits and other creatures gathered when their worlds were destroyed. It was a place that my ancestors couldn't describe ... but from what I could guess, it's nothing like anyplace I've ever seen. There was a demon picked from the demons, to be the sole guardian of the Yomatsu. He was to have power over every living thing on his land. The guardian of the Yomatsu wa like a ruler, for he knew when there were intruders in the Yomatsu, yet he was friendly with all of the inhabitants." 

Kurama ran a finger across his forehead, glancing down to the human girl beside him, holding the glowing gem tightly. "That's where this comes from?" 

_I could swear I've heard this story before, but where? _Kurama though to himself. During the last battle he hadn't been able to get a good look at the figure in black, but still, for some reason he was still oddly familiar. Worse he was beginning to this that odd shuriken was familiar too. 

Kurama shook his head slightly, _No matter, It'll all be cleared up soon. _

Hiei neither answered or moved ... instead, he stared blankly in concentration down the street and into the darkness, his mind searching through the strange city. 

"What is it?" Yusuke asked, looking off into the night with him. 

He shrugged. "Dunno. Strange, flashing lights and odd ningen noises." 

A siren burst suddenly into existence, filling the street with a pulsating red and blue light. Hiei drew his sword, aimed toward the odd lights and sounds and snarled, ready to pounce. 

Karyn huffed. "Cops ... they're never around when you need them, and always too late when you do need them," she said, shoving the gem over to Koenma. 

"Cops?" Koenma asked, taking it up carefully. "What are those?" 

Karyn eyed him. "You from Mars or something? Police men!" 

"I think we should make a quick get away," Yusuke said. "Hiei, take us to Makai ... Yukina, Kieko ... you stay here with ... uh, what was your name?" 

"Karyn." 

"Right!" 

*****

The policeman stepped heavily out of the car, his figure graced with one too many donuts. He pulled out his flashlight and shone it down the street. It glanced off light poles and followed across the street until three girls popped into the light. He wrinkled his nose and began forward. "You girls heard any screaming around here?" 

The group collectively shook their heads. 

He clicked the flashlight off and walked up to them mumbling about his interrupted coffee break. 

He looked around the group ... Karyn, Yukina, Keiko. His gaze fell back to Yukina, and she flinched, drawing back. 

"What's with the hair, girl?" he pointed to her streaming blue locks. 

Karyn laid a hand on her shoulder. "Too much chlorine in the pool water." 

The cop eyed her. "You girls mind telling me what's been going on down here?" 

Keiko shrugged. "Maybe if we knew. Too bad you're too late," she emphasized, drawing a look from the cop. "There was some sicko with a sword here about ten minutes ago, but he ran off. Could be halfway to Tokyo by now!" 

*****

Botan shrugged. "Search me! I didn't even know other realms existed .. let alone gateways to them." She floated about a foot off the ground, seated comfortably on her oar. "Who told you this?" 

Yusuke shot a finger back to Hiei who glared a hole through the back of his head. "Anything odd surfaced lately in Reikai?" 

"Absolutely nothing ... no spirits, no nothing! It's completely quiet around there. 

Koenma held up the red jewel given to him by the human. "Maybe we can use this somehow." 

"How exactly would we do that?" Kuwabara asked, fidgeting with a stray curl of his red hair. 

Kurama took the jewel and held it in his hand, moving around in circles. The energy it put off came at him in waves, growing strongest when he pointed it towards a line of dying trees. He lowered it and looked off. "Hmm ... works just like a compass." 

"A what?" Hiei answered as the group started off. He looked up to Kurama who only smiled, looking off to the dying trees. 

The gem lead them on for about two miles through the gnarled forest. Although Hiei was quite at home, Kuwabara would jump at every little thing that moved. He peppered the entire trip with panicked shouts as odd animals scurried by and tree limbs bent down to whap him in the nose. 

He rubbed his sore nose intently, contorting his face into odd glares and glances until a hand reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "AH!!!" 

Kurama threw him a crooked look as his friend jumped about ten feet. "This things stopped putting out energy," he tossed it to Yusuke. 

"Maybe we're right on top of the gateway." He looked up to the dark, murky blue that could pass for 'sky' and searched. 

"Maybe you broke it," Hiei said. 

"Maybe it saw YOU and died of shock!" Kuwabara put in quickly. 

"Why you ... " 

"THE GROUND!!!" Botan yelled, pointing down to the forest floor. 

It turned suddenly to quicksand, sucking them all down up to their shoulders before they could react ... then the floor opened up in a spinning vortex of light, engulfing them totally in an instant. 

Botan reeled back, shielding her eyes from the light. "Oh no," she whispered, watching on expecting them to come leaping back out. 

But they never came. She looked down into the vortex, clutching the oar handle firmly. 

"Well ... no sense being left out ... " and she flew down into the vortex. 

*****

Karyn quietly pushed the door to her parent's apartment opened and stepped inside. The Elvis clock on the wall read 9:25, the hips shaking back and forth as the seconds hand circumnavigated Elvis' chest. "I'm home," she called softly. 

There was a groan from the couch, and her mother raised a hand, waved and went back to sleep. "Mom? Is it okay if some friends stay the night?" 

There was an affirmative groan. 

Karyn turned out the door and motioned Keiko and Yukina to come in. The two entered neatly in the house, kicking their shoes off at the door before being motioned up the orange, shag- carpeted stairs. 

*****

It was a totem pole ... 

No ... a wooden statue ... 

No. The more Yusuke looked at the thing staring down at him, the more and more odd it became. He picked himself carefully of the floor of a dim forest. He was alone, as far as he could tell ... standing in front of a tall wooden ... thing in an unknown and silent land. 

"DON'T STARE!!" it yelled back to him. 

Yusuke stumbled back, tripping over fallen branches to land back on his butt. 

"IT'S VERY RUDE TO STARE!!" the tree yelled back to him. 

"Yeah, what ever," he snorted, getting to his feet, feeling oddly embarrassed to have been caught off-guard so. The tree shifted in place and lumbered forward a few paces. 

"What are you? You don't look like any creature I'VE ever seen!" 

"Same to ya, pal. Where am I?" 

"OH!! How noble of you! First you come crashing onto me from the sky ... stare at me like I'M the freak of nature here... and now you want directions! Hmph! Typical! I should have walked all over you when I had the chance!" 

"Look, friend. I'm sorry. I was just sucked into some odd portal and ended up here. It wasn't my choice." 

The tree glared down to him. "You from Over-World? You are, aren't you! You and your com-pu-tors and auto-mo-biles. Ningen?" 

"Sort of. Who are you?" 

The tree shook proudly. "Zurui. And you?" 

"Yusuke Urameshi. Could you tell me where I am?" 

"Sure thing!" The tree's 'face' contorted into what could pass as a smile as it suddenly changed moods. "You're in one of Yomatsu's forests." 

"THIS is Yomatsu Hara-Sakai?" 

The tree rustled. 

"What happened to the others?" 

"Others? Hmm ... could be anywhere. Yomatsu portals are very random, Ningen." The tree rustled and settled down 

"Great," he huffed silently to himself.   


*****

"HELLOOOOOOOOO!!" Kuwabara yelled to the dim, pinkish-blue sky. He found himself in an odd foresty place, dumped here by the vortex from Makai. Around him, strange noises echoed off the almost stone-like trees, coming at him from all corners of his perception. 

He shivered slightly and tried to stand up, only to feel a searing pain in one of his legs. 

He was lying on what looked like a road, snaking through the woods, beaten down by travelers. The entire environment reminded him of something out of a bad horror flick. 

Something rustled off in one of the tree tops as if in response to his frantic mind. His head whirled around to see a black shape, wizzing from limb to limb, circling around him. 

"Hiei! S'that you?" 

"Does it matter, baka?" Hiei blinked into existence on a nearby tree branch, glaring down to him. "Where are Kurama and the others?" 

"Like I should know!!" Kuwabara rubbed his head, looking around at the forest. "Igh ... place is even more creepy than Makai." 

"Well you're useless now, as usual. I'd leave you here but Yusuke and the others would be pissed. Not that I care." Hiei reached into his shirt and pulled out a mass of bandages. Throwing them to Kuwabara, he flicked out of sight, reappearing in a tree. "Hurry up and wrap that wound baka. I don't have all day."

"OI!! Just wait till I can stand shrimp!! I'll plummet you from here to high heaven!" 

*****

Koenma shook the stars from his head only to see Botan floating calmly before him, glancing around. "Rough fall?" 

He nodded, picking himself up. "Where the heck are we?" 

She shrugged. "We couldn't still be in Makai." She gestured to the sky and trees. "Strange place." 

"I wonder if this is that Yomatsu Bounds Hiei was talking about." 

"Why don't we look for them and find out." 

Koenma looked around the dense, forest region, realizing it was only himself and Botan there in the dense foliage. The trees seemed to close down in on him ... he began to mentally kick himself for agreeing to come on this mission. 

*****

Kurama brushed the grass and leaves from his shirt and hair, running his fingers through it to calm the rats and tangles. It was an odd part of some forest he found himself in. It was a large, circular area ringed with the forest, so dense that he couldn't see beyond. It reminded him of one of those Greek Amphitheaters he had read about in school. 

"Hello?" he called to the forest, circling around to search. He felt a strange hint of energy floating just outside the ring. It would move occasionally, hiding behind a different tree every so often. "Hello! Who's there?" 

The energy source flipped to radiate behind him quickly, and Kurama whirled around. Standing just inside the circle, the one-armed tengu snarled at him, reeping scythe still in his grip. 

"You," it growled, fixing him with a deadly gaze. "Woman. Give me the jewel." 

"I don't have it," Kurama said, pulling out a rose from the depths of his shirt top. 

"YOU LIE!!" it screamed leaping into the air, scythe ready. 

The Rose Whip burst into existence in his hand as he dove for the ground, the scythe slicing into the firm earth just inches from his face. Kurama struggled to his feet, reaching with his mind out to the trees around him ... 

... but nothing happened. 

Another sideways blow caught him painfully on the shoulder, flinging him halfway across the circle, landing roughly on the ground. And the trees mearly stared back at him, despite the effort he put into calling to them. "What is going on!" he cursed, lashing the whip before him. The tengu kept his distance from the whip as he watched the red-headed woman struggle to her feet. It smiled a razor-edged grin, watching as Kurama's shoulder split open and began to bleed profusely. 

Kurama bit back a cry of agony, slipping down to his knees, holding his aching shoulder. His vision began to blur and his head spun in circles, greatly disorienting him. 

"Poison," he whispered to himself. 

"The jewel, woman!" 

"I told you, I don't have it!!" 

Again the tengu lept through the air as Kurama made it to his feet. He had no chances of stopping the attack, but he managed to shrug off another blow from the scythe, the Rose Whip wrapping around the broken hilt and jerking it to one side. 

Instead, the tengu hit him full force, pounding Kurama back into the hard ground, spliting his already gaping shoulder even further. 

He sreamed in pain and laid dazed ... the wind gone and the poison slowly over taking his body. The world before him was a complete blur as if he was looking through water. He tossed his head about, and managed to get his good arm under his body, struggling against pain and fatigue he sat up and laid eyes on the snarling creature. 

"Quite strong for a woman." Kurama only snorted, pulling himself to his knees, wincing in pain. "Very well, then. You who fight in battle as a man ... " he raised the scythe menacingly over his head ... "shall die like a man!!!!" 

Unable to move, Kurama forced his eyes shut and braced for the blow, preparing himself for the seering pain that would follow. He felt the wind from the blow before his face ... heard the scythe cutting through the air... 

He waited, breathing heavily ... but nothing more ever came... the environment fell deadly silent. 

_Am I dead already?_

He looked up from his pained vision to see the tengu lying at his feet, dead. Looking up from the body he could see the man in black standing before him. 

_Shit, now I have him to deal with. _The figure kneeled down next to him and grasped his shoulder, looking at it with pitch black eyes. 

Kurama could see his face clearly now, and all he could do was stare. As memories triggered in his head, he had to bite his lip to keep from screaming as his brain was roughly assaulted. He knew he was missing most of his memories from his life as Youko Kurama, but this was too much. 

His brain was receiving all of his memories and the short life he thought he had as a Youko began to lengthen into thousands of years. 

_Is this an effect of the poison? _He thought as he could feel his consciousness slipping. 

Right before he blacked out, he managed to whisper a name that seemed to shock the man in black.

"'Wari..."

*****

Kuwabara grumbled to himself as he fumbled with the bandages. Taking a good look at the wound, it was all he could do to stop from wincing away. _Man, this looks bad. _

Suddenly he lifted his head up, hearing voices. Turning, he breathed a sigh of relief as Koenma and Botan emerged from the foliage. 

Both of them stopped in their tracking when they saw him. 

"Oh my god! Kuwabara, you're injured. Here let me help you." Botan ran over to him, kneeling down in the dirt. Koenma followed silently and stood next to her as she worked. 

There was a rustle in the bushes from the other side of the road, and they all stopped to stare. Holding their breath and hoping it wasn't an enemy. 

The three of them let out a relieved sigh as Yusuke emerged from the forest. He stopped and blinked astonishingly at them. 

"So you three made it here too?" he asked them. 

"Yeah, though Kuwabara seems to be injured." Koenma replied, stepping across of Kuwabara to face Yusuke. 

Yusuke turned around, looking into the forest. "Doe anyone know where Kurama and Hiei are? I hope they're okay." 

"I'm right here." Hiei replied out of nowhere, startling Yusuke, Koenma and Botan. "Where do you think the baka here got his bandages from?" 

"Don't startle us like that!" Koenma and Botan yelled at the same time. "You scared the living daylights out of us!" 

Hiei didn't have to time to answer as a soft, female voice laughed from a tree top. 

"Strangers to this land ... do you require assistance?" the small voice sung, echoing around them. 

The tree tops seemed to swirl around them in a great tornado of leaves as the small voice floated in. 

It continued for ten seconds, then abruptly the entire forest fell silent in a rustle of settling leaves. 

A nearby tree branch bowed slightly and a sliver figure appeared, drawing the group into defensive positions around Kuwabara. The female figure laughed again. 

"What do you want?" Yusuke yelled to the tree. 

In a brilliance of little lights, a small glowing globe of energy popped into view before Yusuke and the others. It hung simply in the air as if studying the group, bobbing up and down occasionally. 

Hiei took out his sword and Yusuke readied his hand to shoot whoever it was.

It flickered in response, floating forward. "Put away your weapons." 

"Make me," Hiei growled in that low, penetrating voice, stepping forward. 

The light flickered again ... and Hiei's sword exploded into tiny, glittering lights. He fumbled forward through the air with his hands, right where his sword just was.

Again, the light flickered, growing long and slender down to meet the ground. It filled out and dissolved into a young girl, silver wings prouting from her back, smiling gently back at them all. 

"It's a ... a yosei ... a fairy!" Yusuke breathed, dropping his hands. 

The yosei nodded, stepping back. Before Hiei, his sword sparkled back into existence, floating obediently before him. He reached out and slowly took it back, keeping a close eye on the young girl before him. 

"Who are you?" Koenma asked, shadowed by Botan. 

She smiled over to him and bowed her head. "I am Kagayaku." She turned blank, blue eyes down to Kuwabara. "Your companion has been injured. Come. We will help you." 

"We?" Kuwabara inquired. 

The trees surrounding the grassy ring were littered with about twenty of the silver yosei, giggling and conversing quietly among themselves. 

*****

BBBBRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGG!!!!! 

"WAH!!!!" Yukina and Keiko sat bolt up-right on the floor beside Karyn's bed, panicked. 

"That noise!" Yukina whined, pressing her hands over her ears. Karyn reached a lazy arm over and swated the alarm clock into silence, yawning. 

Keiko groaned and rubbed her eyes. "Where's the fire?" 

Karyn groaned in a responce. "Gotta go to a Girl Scout meeting." 

"What the heck's a girl scout?" 

Karyn fell back in bed, rubbing her tired face. "Believe me ... you don't wanna know." 

Keiko sighed, looking out the window at the rising sun. "I wonder how Yusuke and the others are doing." 

*****

Yusuke stared down into the brownish tea. It tasted funny ... not like tea normally should... but more like dirt. 

He leaned his elbows on the edge of the wooden table he sat at in a white marble hall, spinning his tea cup around. The contents shimmered for a few seconds like the rising sun would on the ocean back in Japan, and died down into the brownish liquid. 

"So HERE you are!" 

He looked up to see Botan strolling into the hall, ploping down across the table from him. 

"How's Kuwabara?" Yusuke inquired, watching the woman cross the dining hall. 

She shrugged. "Don't know. I haven't been able to se him yet. Koenma should know though." She reached across the table and took the tea cup, taking a sip. "Oh, and Hiei is getting impatient. Kurama is still out there you know." 

"I know. I'm gonna go check on Kuwabara. When he's healed we'll go look for Kurama. You coming?" 

"Sure." 

*****

Kurama's eyes fluttered open, the blurriness clearing to the point he could outline figures. His entire upper body ached in a dull throbbing pain, radiating from his shoulder. He was more stiff than sore he found out, as he flexed the muscles in his stomach and sat up. 

He was met by a pair of black eyes and a face to like his own to be funny. 

Blinking the blurriness away, he could see the man in black sitting across from him. He himself in a bed with pitch black sheets. 

Memory started to come back to him, the fight, the wound, and...the memories. 

Before he could say anything though, the man across from his spoke up. "Who are you? How did you know my name, ningen? Only the people of the Yomatsu know who I am." 

Kurama looked at the man, he was wearing all black. Loose fitting pants and Chinese shoes with a Chinese long sleeved shirt and sash, just like what he himself usually wore. 

_He hasn't changed a bit since the last time I saw him, nearly 17 years ago..._

Kurama blinked himself out of his daze, realizing that the man was waiting for an answer from him. "My name is Kurama, Yo-mawari." 

The man, now known as Yo-mawari, stood up in anger, the chair he was sitting on tipping over. 

Roughly grabbing Kurama by the scruff of his neck, eyes narrowed in anger. "How dare you use that name in front of me. No human is named Kurama." 

Kurama winced as Yo-mawari tightened his grip on him, making his shoulder send shooting pains across his body. "I'm not entirely human, 'Wari."

Yo-mawari's grip tightened, "Don't call me by that name, you should know your place here, ningen." 

The pain in Kurama's shoulder doubled and he had to concentrate to think clear. "You could at least call me by my name."

"I won't defile my twin's name by calling you it."

Kurama allowed a pined smile to flash across his face. "But I am your twin 'Wari."

Yo-mawari's face darkened. "Don't lie to me, human. My brother's dead, shot by a hunter."

Kurama didn't do anything, calmly staring at the other man as he changed into his youko form. "Do I seem dead to you, 'Wari?" 

Yo-mawari's eyes widened, his face becoming deathly pale. 

"Kyodai-kun. What?....How?" 

"Speechless are you? I've only been able to do that too you once and that was concerning bad news."

"Shut-up Kurama." Yo-mawari managed to gasp out as tears made their way down his face. He grasped Kurama in a hug, squeezing so hard Kurama began to choke. 

"'Wari, I can't breathe." 

"Ooops." Yo-mawari murmured and released him as his own hair became silver, his eyes gold. Soon the two Youko's looked exactly alike down to the very clothes they wore. 

"Now, you owe me an explanation." 

*****

Yusuke and Botan passed group after group of the fairies, each slipping into silent conversations and avoiding them as they passed. 

Botan tugged on her friends arm, bringing Yusuke down so she could whisper in his ear. "Have you noticed that these yosei are all female!" she whispered. 

"So? What's the big deal," he shrugged, leading her down a separate hall, void of the giggling women. 

"I don't know ... kind of makes me nervous. Like their plotting something."

Yusuke shook his head sadly, "You and your ideas..." he stopped as they reached the door to Kuwabara's room, hearing raised voices. 

Looking at each other they opened the door and went inside. 

To be continued...

Translations: 

Baka-idiot

Kyodai-kun- 'Wari's nickname for Kurama 

The Explanation:

Okay, here's a short summary on Yo-mawari. Kurama's parents had a pair of twin boys. Their father didn't want two boys, so he chose one to keep (Kurama) and one to abandon (Yo-mawari). Yo-mawari was found in the woods by the previous guardian of the Yomatsu. And thus for two hundred years they were raised apart. Later, 'Wari went to get revenge on his father for abandoning him. H met Kurama on his way to his father's house, and he told him that his father was very abusive. Yo-mawari explained about what happened to him to Kurama. They then went and killed their father.

Kurama had lost most of his memories when his soul transferred to his human body, so he doesn't remember major parts of his life. 

SPOILERS FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER AHEAD!

BE WARNED!

One more thing, in the next chapter you will find out that Hiei is 'Wari's Mejin (Master). (This information will also be posted on the bottom of the next chapter, so you don't have to read it at this moment.)

I don't properly explain it there, so I'll do so here. You know how Kurama lost most of his memories? Well so did Hiei, only it was during a fight with another Jagenshi (a demon with a Jagan). A long time ago, Hiei found himself in the Yomatsu, where he met Yo-mawari and managed to defeat him in a fair battle. (That meant that Yo-mawari didn't use his guardian abilities.) As I said a chapter or so ago, when one demon defeats another, the defeated demon becomes a servant to the victor. So, 'Wari then took Hiei to meet Kurama and Kuronue, (He was alive then) and the four of them formed the Genai Rhyodan. (means the phantom brigade) They turn out to be the greatest group of thieves in the Makai. The other two members of this group will remain a secret at this moment in time. 

That's the end of chapter four. I hope you liked it. I can't wait for your reviews! 

Oh, and flames are accepted. I would like to know how to improve my work you know. Plus they make a warm fire in the winter. 


	5. Chapter 5 The Yomatsu HaraSakai, part 4

Hi! I'm Yo-ma! I'm using characters from various Fanfiction and will give the authors credit in the chapters they appear in. The next few chapters will introduce some characters from Korogi. Please don't get angry with me for using your character, Yo-mawari. If you want me to take the story off of FanFiction.Net, please tell me. 

This is my story, it is YAOI (meaning male/male relationships for those unused to the anime world.) If you don't like it, don't read it! Got that?

I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO!!! So don't sue me I don't have anything.

This occurs after the movies and ovas. 

Thoughts are in _Italics. _***** means a change in scene. 

__

Please Read and Review! I would love to hear anything you have to say! Flames are even accepted!

To Night Light Fairy: Thanks for your reviews again! Check the first four chapters again; I reposted them so there will be corrections. I hop I corrected them to your satisfaction. The explanation will also be posted at the end of the next chapter, but then I'm taking it off. I hope it helps you understand the situation. This chapter and the next are dedicated to you for your help. Thanks again!

To Zaeria: Thanks for the encouragement! Hiei has always been able to tell Kurama and Yo-mawari apart, even when Kurama doesn't wear the earrings and necklaces. (He wears them only on special occasions

To dragonfoxloversforever: Thanks for your reviews! They helped me write this chapter! 

On with the story!

The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho 

Chapter 5 The Yomatsu Hara-Sakai, part 4

Kuwabara was trying to get up, hindered by Koenma, who was trying to calm the raging human down. Hiei was near the door, calling Kuwabara a rang of insults. Obviously he was taking advantage of the situation. 

Yusuke sighed and forcefully pushed Kuwabara back onto the bed. "If you're well enough to be fighting with Hiei, we should be able to leave this place soon, so hurry up and heal."

Turning around to face Hiei, who was calmly sitting in the corner as if nothing had happened. "You stay with him. And I want no fighting between you two, do you understand?"

"Hn." 

Yusuke could only sigh as he walked out of the room.

*****

Yusuke sighed and ran a hand through his slicked back hair as he walked along side Koenma and Botan. 

Staying in one place while a teammate could be in danger was not something Yusuke was used to. "Ya know, Koenma. I'm beginning to get the feeling these fairies have more on their mind than just hospitality."

Koenma threw him a dirty look. "What are you trying to say?" 

"Look around! They're all women ... and what would a large group of lonely women do when they came across a group of men?" 

"You've got your mind in the gutter again, haven't you?" Botan put in from atop her oar. She glared down at Yusuke ... the deadliest look she could muster, but only succeeded in acting like a fool. 

"Hmph. Men ... one track minds!" and she flew off before anyone could put two sensible words together. 

Koenma stifled a laugh gaining a glare from Yusuke. "Thanks for sticking up for the male gender," Yusuke snorted. 

"Suit yourself," and Koenma turned off a trail in the garden and wandered off, laughing to himself. "I guess it's just wishful thinking on his part," he chuckled, shoving his hands into the pockets of his pants. 

He seemed to walk for some time ... letting his feet carry him where they wanted to go. The sun beat down on his over head, heating his body through the dark blue clothes he wore. 

The section of the garden Koenma finally found himself in was almost like a labyrinth of tall hedges. They wound through the garden beyond. 

"The last thing I need to do is get lost in here." He turned on his heals to head back into the main courtyard only to find one of the young fairies coming into the labyrinth. 

"Oh, excuse me," he said, bowing slightly. He gathered himself, stepping forward to push past her. 

She reached out and laid a firm hand on his chest, pushing him back into the labyrinth. He shuffled back, hands still in his pockets and eyed her strangely, Kuwabara's words floating in a ghostly warning to him. 'And what would a large group of all women do ... ' 

"I really have to go," he said, once again, cutting off his thoughts and trying to push past her again. 

Again, the fairy pushed him back, more forcefully this time, almost sending him tumbling into a hedge sculpture. He threw his arms out, catching his balance and quickly regaining his footing, glaring back at the woman. "What's with you? What do you want?" 

She stepped forward, closing the distance between them with a sadistic smile. 

"You," she answered lowly, curling a finger in his direction. 

Koenma's blood ran cold, Yusuke's words once again rising to his ears. He knew all too well about violence's that ningen men and women had about intimacy ... 

"Um ... I'm very flattered, but ... " 

Something hit Koenma in the chest ... like a concentrated blast of air. He stumbled back, holding his aching chest, watching as a branch of the hedge slid back into place, sparking the entire hedge to wriggle alive. He looked down to find a large cut in his shirt running horizontally across the folds of the shirt. 

He panicked, turning to leap out of the labyrinth ... only to have a vine wrap around his ankle and haul him back into the labyrinth, smashing him down back first onto the garden floor. 

*****

Kuwabara limped out of his sick room, wanting to get at least some fresh air. He had left Hiei inside, they really didn't like each other, so Hiei didn't care if he would get hurt. Which was a good thing of sorts, since if one of the others were watching him, he probably wouldn't be allowed to move more or less walk around! 

On instinct, he spun around, ready to attack. Instead, a yosei smiled sweetly back at him. "Sorry to have startled you," she giggled, bowing slightly with a flourish. 

Kuwabara smiled like a fool, scratching his head nervously. "Ah, s'ok. I do that all the time." As he laughed like a complete fool he felt something tugging at his pant leg ... then beginning to tickle his ankle. He stopped laughing and looked down, watching a vine creeping up and wrapping around his leg. He stepped back and pulled his leg out, eyeing the fairy. 

She shrugged with an overly playful smile as a tree branch reached down to him, attempting to capture his tall frame. 

Detecting some hostility, Kuwabara called on the spirit sword, oddly dashing from the lunatic plant's grasp. 

*****

Koenma hit the ground back first, the wind in his lungs leaving him painfully as the vines wrapped around his legs, spreading them and securing them to the ground. 

He inhaled deeply as the fairy came down on top of him, trying desperately to force air back into his lungs. He struggled, only to find his hands being pulled up over his head and securely anchored, millions of tiny plant roots winding around his wrists with a strength like steal. The adrenaline began to rush through his system as the fairy bent down and bit a button off his ripped shirt, spitting it into the hedge. She eyed him demonically, kissing his exposed neck gently. 

She moved around to the side of his neck, feeling his skin become cold and clammy, shuttering under her. She opened her mouth and sunk her teeth into his neck roughly, drawing blood. Koenma screamed out, muffled as she reached up to kiss him deeply. 

"Oh, god no," he breathed, tasting his own blood in the yosei's mouth. He tossed his head to the side, feeling the wound rip open further. The yosei atop him laughed keenly, bending down to his chest as she ripped the shirt open, sending the rest of the buttons shooting off into the garden, her hands following the lines of his stomach down to the buckle of his pants. 

He struggled against the binding plants, feeling them tightening around his wrists and ankles, making his struggles more and more painful. 

"Get off me!!" he screamed, feeling the cool air rush in onto his fully naked body. His blood ran cold through his system as the fairy smiled evil down to him, leaning over his body, her own cloths dissolving into mist. 

For a few minutes, she just sat on his stomach, watching him with a grin as he tried to escape. He had his eyes forced shut, teeth clenched as he struggled. She waited patiently as he began to realize escape was a futile attempt. He relaxed completely, lying here in the sunlight, breathing heavily. 

He simply laid there helpless as she ran her hands up and down his stomach, feeling his muscles stiffen and convulse. He cursed silently to himself, trying to think of how he cold get out of this. 

She tickled the sides of his chest, making him convulse to the point that he arched his back off the ground, stifling a groan. She once again waited until he relaxed, his eyes still forced shut, and she smiled, laughing slightly and moved to strattle him at the abdomen, pressing down firmly into his hips. 

He shuttered, bawling his fists helplessly as he felt himself enter the yosei. He yanked again on the bindings of his arms, feeling his skin burn under the strain as she rocked in a steady rhythm on top of him. 

Odd sensations began to pour through his body... sensations he had never felt before. The feelings were somehow pleasant, but frightening at the same time, and he began to struggle again, harder this time, feeling one of the bindings dig into the tender flesh of his wrists. He yelled, arching his back again, feeling the yosei's weight on him. 

She reached up and dug sharp nails into his stomach, ordering him into silence, leaving length red marks running down his chest and stomach. "Someone get this psychotic bitch off me!!" he yelled, panic-stricken. 

*****

Yusuke shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather coat, keeping close stride with Hiei. He was peeved when Hiei had appeared, he was supposed to look after Kuwabara, but then it was a bad choice. He should've stayed with him instead. Now Kuwabara was up and walking. Just great. 

The fairies had converged on the area of the garden, keeping close watch on the two. 

One stepped forward and bowed to Yusuke. "Are you to be going soon, sir." 

Yusuke bushed at the formality, something he wasn't very good at. "Yes we are." he smiled. 

The fairy reached out and gently took his arm. "Please stay." 

"I said we were to leave soon!" he said forcefully. 

The yosei all leapt back at his words, heightening his suspicion. W_as I actually right ... they are planning something. _

"What do you want?" Hiei demanded. 

"We must talk with you." 

"Yeah, well we have to go so, bye." 

*****

A section of the garden behind them blew up in a spray of dirt and plant parts, Kuwabara's battle cries soon following. "YEAH!! Let's just see you try that again, pixy! I've got a girl already!!" 

*****

Kurama sighed and leaned back on the bed's headboard, finally finished telling Yo-mawari what he had been up to in the past 16 years. 

'Wari sighed, "You never seem to stop amazing me, Kurama."

They had both reverted to human shape after awhile, not wanting to waste any energy. 

"You know I still remember when we were thieving together, you know, as the Genai Rhyodan. Me, you, Kuronue, Joker, Keine, 

and Mejin-san." Yo-mawari leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes. 

Kurama sat up straight. "Wait! Hiei and my friends are here to. I must of forgotten."

Yo-mawari's eyes snapped open. "You mean Meijin's here too?"

Kurama nodded, "They could be anywhere."

Yo-mawari stood up and looked down at his brother. "You can stand, right?" 

Kurama nodded and shakily stood to his feet. Yo-mawari, wrapped an arm around him to help him stand. "Come on, I'll find out where they are." 

*****

Botan heard Koenma's frantic screams ... followed by Kuwabara limping and blowing up sections of the garden with Yusuke's blasts from his rei-gun. 

She flew around, following the last course she thought the yell was coming from . "KOENMA-SAMA!!!!" she yelled, searching down the labyrinth of hedges.   
She reeled around a corner to a horrific sight ... Koenma laying spread-eagle tied to the ground with the yosei on top of him in a very compromising position, neither one in a shred of clothing. 

She screamed as loud as she could ...more in alarm to the sight ... freaking the yosei who disappeared into the air... and Koenma's bonds were released. He quickly rolled over to one side, his shirt hanging loosely off his back and arms, trying to catch his breath.   
Botan leapt off the oar and met clumsily with the ground, running over and flinging herself down at Koenma. "Oh, Koenma!!! What in the name of Reikai was she doing to you?"   
"Take wild guess," he spat, tugging his pants back up in disgust, shuttering under her weight. He pulled a hand up and cupped it over the bite wound in his neck, trying to keep it from bleeding any more than it had to.   
A snarl came from behind Botan and she stood quickly, being stared down by the yosei that had raped Koenma. 

"The man is mine, woman!"   
Botan gathered her courage. "No!" she yelled, stepping forward.   
The yosei snarled, but didn't move. Botan stepped forward again, surprised to see the fairy stumble back away from her as she advanced. 

She took a deep breath and waved her hands through the air. "Go on! Git! Get out of hear!" she yelled, as if scurrying off a stray cat. She looked on dumbfound as the fairy took to the air in a deep growl and fled.   
Botan looked on for a minute, making sure the fairy was gone. That was quite odd behavior for a woman who had managed to get the best of Koenma. 

She turned slowly, leaning back down to Koenma, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Koenma ... are you okay?" she looked down to his face   
"NO, I'm not okay!!!" he snapped, sinking his head down into his hands. 

Botan leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, feeling him rest his head on her shoulder. She leaned her head down and cradled him in her arms, rocking him back and forth like a small child.   
A single tear escaped his mysterious, black eyes and rolled off his face onto Botan's shoulder. 

Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei stood back to back, surrounded on all sides by the fairies.   
"By the gods ... "

*****

Kuwabara hit a brick wall at the other end of the garden, smashing clean into it, followed by Yusuke, leaving his imprint beside him. The two sank to the ground heads spinning as the yosei began to close quickly on them.   
Yusuke tried to raise his hands to his defense, but his body refused to obey his commands, on the verge of being completely drained from the battle and the impact. "Kazuma... you ok?"   
"Ugh ... feel like the Shinka'nsen Bullet Train just mistook my head for a track ... but other than that ... " he struggled to his feet... "... never felt better!" He raised the spirit sword before him.   
Yusuke tried to get to his feet, pulling them under him and bracing himself on a ledge. His body had never ached so badly before ... it was like he had bruised every bone in his body.   
His legs quivered as he tried to walk, buckling at the knees and sending him crashing down onto his hands.   
"Yusuke!! What's wrong!!" Kuwabara yelled, slicing neatly through a fairy before him.   
"Don't worry about me, you fool! Get out of here!"   
"No way!"   
"Just do it!"   
A swarm of yosei leapt over Kuwabara's blade and advanced quickly on Yusuke, each grabbing hold of him, reeling him back and pinning him against the brick wall.   
"Oh no you don't!!" Kuwabara raised the blade to strike ...   
... and from out of nowhere, Hiei's Black Dragon roared to life, Killing all, if not most of the fairies near them. 

******

Koenma withdrew his head from Botan's shoulder and looked around her. The screams of the yosei floated in and he felt Botan grip him harder. He reached up and hugged her tightly, grinning at the suffrage that floated to his ears. They deserved every bit if it!   
He moved back and she released him.   
"Botan ... " he whispered, staring down at her. He blinked his eyes and began a new train of thought. "We're going to need help getting out of here. Go back to Reikai and get Saotomei ... I'm sure he'll know what to do."   
"But ... what about you?"   
He faked a smile. "I'll be fine. Just go!"   
She nodded carefully and stood, hopping up onto her oar. 

*****

The scene before Kuwabara and Yusuke laid riddled with the dead yosei as Hiei emerged from the trees in a swirl of black. 

Looking at the two of them he smirked, "Looked like you could use some help."

Kuwabara growled back his answer as he helped Yusuke up. 

Yusuke sighed at their antics. "Let's just go and find Koenma and Botan before any more of these yosei come after us. Who knows how many there are."

Together the three walked off from the battle scene. 

******

Koenma turned around quickly as he heard approaching footsteps. He smiled slightly and relaxed his tensed muscles when he saw it was the others. 

Yusuke looked glad to see him, "Yo, Koenma." He looked around. "Where's Botan?"

"She went to the Reikai to open us a portal when we find Kurama." 

Kuwabara nodded, "Come on, let's find him."

Hiei was just about to take off his bandanna when the ground beneath them started to swirl. 

"What the heck!" Yusuke screamed as they were sucked in....

....just to land roughly on the floor of Koenma's office in the Reikai.

To be continued...

The Explanation:

Okay, here's a short summary on Yo-mawari. Kurama's parents had a pair of twin boys. Their father didn't want two boys, so he chose one to keep (Kurama) and one to abandon (Yo-mawari). Yo-mawari was found in the woods by the previous guardian of the Yomatsu. And thus for two hundred years they were raised apart. Later, 'Wari went to get revenge on his father for abandoning him. H met Kurama on his way to his father's house, and he told him that his father was very abusive. Yo-mawari explained about what happened to him to Kurama. They then went and killed their father.

Kurama had lost most of his memories when his soul transferred to his human body, so he doesn't remember major parts of his life. 

SPOILERS FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER AHEAD!

BE WARNED!

One more thing, in the next chapter you will find out that Hiei is 'Wari's Mejin (Master). (This information will also be posted on the bottom of the next chapter, so you don't have to read it at this moment.)

I don't properly explain it there, so I'll do so here. You know how Kurama lost most of his memories? Well so did Hiei, only it was during a fight with another Jagenshi (a demon with a Jagan). A long time ago, Hiei found himself in the Yomatsu, where he met Yo-mawari and managed to defeat him in a fair battle. (That meant that Yo-mawari didn't use his guardian abilities.) As I said a chapter or so ago, when one demon defeats another, the defeated demon becomes a servant to the victor. So, 'Wari then took Hiei to meet Kurama and Kuronue, (He was alive then) and the four of them formed the Genai Rhyodan. (means the phantom brigade) They turn out to be the greatest group of thieves in the Makai. The other two members of this group will remain a secret at this moment in time. 

Hey! That's the end of chapter five. I hope you liked it. I can't wait for your reviews! I'll be waiting for them. 


	6. Chapter 6 The Yomatsu HaraSakai, part 5

Hi! I'm Yo-ma! I'm using characters from various Fanfiction and will give the authors credit in the chapters they appear in. The next few chapters will introduce some characters from Korogi. Please don't get angry with me for using your character, Yo-mawari. If you want me to take the story off of FanFiction.Net, please tell me. 

This is my story, it is YAOI (meaning male/male relationships for those unused to the anime world.) If you don't like it, don't read it! Got that?

I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO!!! So don't sue me I don't have anything.

This occurs after the movies and ovas. 

Thoughts are in _Italics. *****_means change in scene.

__

Please Read and Review! I would love to hear anything you have to say! Flames are even accepted!

To Zaeria: Thanks for the encouragement! Hiei has always been able to tell Kurama and Yo-mawari apart, even when Kurama doesn't wear the earrings and necklaces. (He wears them only on special occasions

To dragonfoxloversforever: Thanks for your reviews! They helped me write this chapter! 

On with the story!

The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho 

Chapter 6 The Yomatsu Hara-Sakai, part 5

"What in the name of the three worlds is going on here!" Yusuke screamed in frustration as he shakily got up from his position on the floor. 

Botan blinked, "Koenma told me to go get George, and I did. He opened a portal here for you."

Hiei growled and advanced on her, "You idiot." He sad in low dangerous tones that made Botan want to run and get as far away as possible. "Kurama's still in the Yomatsu. Now what are we going to do." 

Botan gasped, "Oh my god, I forgot about him." 

Hiei advanced on her, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword. 

Yusuke decided it was a good time to step in, walking up to Hiei he put a gentle but restraining hand on his shoulder. "We'll find him. Don't worry."

Hiei shot him a glare that would of melted ice a 100 yards away. "Hn. Who's worrying, baka?"

*****

The remaining yosei grouped together and sulked. They had lost four men today. _Four Men. _That was like a Christmas present to them, since most male yokai in the Yomatsu knew not to go near their territory. 

Suddenly the yosei looked up from their thoughts. Coming up the path to their home was Yo-mawari, the Guardian of the Yomatsu, helping someone else, who seemed to be injured. 

"Oh, It Yo-ma!" One of the younger yosei screeched. the day did seem to begin to get better for her, since she saw the men go through a portal and couldn't do a thing about it. 

The yosei gathered around the two, touching their hair and clothes. _'Geez, this reminds me of my fan club bake in the Ningenkai.' _Kurama mentally told his brother. 

_'They're no so bad, once you get to know them.'_ Yo-ma replied. 

_'Whatever you say.'_

"What is the pleasure of this visit Yo-ma? You just saw us last month." One of the Yosei asked him. "And _who_ is this beautiful guy?"

Yo-mawari laughed slightly. "This is Kurama, my twin. I believe you've met him, a long time ago." 

The older yosei giggled and poked Kurama. "Oh, are you still as playful as you were then, Kurama. It was always a joy to see you." 

Kurama blushed, "Sorry, I'm taken girls." 

The yosei pouted, "So not fair!" 

"Have you seen a group of four men accompanied by a woman with blue hair?" Yo-mawari asked them. 

The yosei looked at each other guilty. "There were here, but they left awhile ago." They decided not to disclosed what exactly happened. 

Some things are best left secret. 

"I saw them leave." The younger yosei spoke up. "I believe it was through a portal to the Reikai. Though, it looked like they didn't want to go." 

"Thank you." Kurama said to her. 

Yo-mawari sighed and brought out a small packet of bite-size candies. "I'll feel bad if we don't leave something for you, so you can have these." 

The yosei cheered, they loves the sweets Yo-ma usually brought. 

******

A few yards away from the yosei now, Yo-mawari turned to Kurama. "Where do you want to go?" he asked him.

"Let's go to my house in the Ningenkai. From there I can go to the Reikai and bring Hiei back. We'll improvise from there."

'Wari smiled at him and opened the portal, both of them disappearing from the Yomatsu. 

Hiei paced Koenma's study, while Yusuke and Kuwabara flicked through Koenma's large tv. They were searching for Kurama in the Yomatsu, but so far they hadn't even found a trace of him. 

Koenma, Botan and George were looking trough the files of the newly departed, searching with a fevered hope that they wouldn't find Kurama's name listed there. 

"Hey, what are you all doing here? And with Kuwabara injured, you should be resting!" 

Startled, they all turned around, several mouths dropping open in shock. Kurama stood in the doorway of Koenma's study, all in one piece. 

A smile spread across Hiei's face, as much as he tried to restrain it. "You're back." he whispered. 

Yusuke heard him though. Raising one eyebrow he said, "Well, well, well. You were worried about Kurama." 

Kurama tried to hide the blush that spread across his face. 

Hiei, though, turned and glared at Yusuke.

Kuwabara's mouth opened and closed, soundless words coming out. "What? How?"

Kurama smiled that mysterious smile of his. "I had a little help. Why?"

"No, I didn't mea...." Yusuke quickly covered Kuwabara's mouth before he could embarrass himself. 

"From who?" Koenma asked, catching on to the idea. 

"A man known as Yo-mawari."

Hiei's eyes widened at that, _Why does that name seem so familiar to me? I'm sure I never met a yokai from the Yomatsu before._

"Who?" Kuwabara asked, the dumb look on his face changing to more of a dumb quizzical look. 

"The man in black. You know the guy who was fighting Hiei when we were in New York." 

"NANI?!" Kuwabara and Yusuke shouted, almost simultaneously. 

Kurama nodded. "It turns out he was the Guardian of the Yomatsu and that red crystal was an important compass leading people to the various gates in the three worlds. He didn't want it falling into the wrong hands."

"Oh, That was the Guardian of the Yomatsu?" Koenma whispered. "Come on! I could of asked him about the mysterious circumstances of the death of one of the Yomatsu's inhabitants."

Kurama gave him what would be a small smirk. "Come on, let's go home. You still have to pick up Keiko and Yukina from New York."

"Shit I forgot! Keiko will kill me!" Yusuke's screams could be heard up and down the halls of Koenma's palace. 

*****

Awhile later, Hiei and Kurama arrived in Kurama's bedroom, only to be comforted by Yo-mawari.

Yo-ma and Hiei stared at one another for a few seconds. It was 'Wari who made the first move. Kneeling down on one knee he face the slightly startled Hiei. 

"It's good to see you again, Mejin-san." 'Wari smirked. "Though it does seem as if you've shrunk in the past 16 years."

Hiei stared at him for a moment, before recognition dawned on him. 'It's good to see you too, 'Wari." 

He then rounded on Kurama. "Did you know we knew each other before when we met?" He half hissed at his lover. "Did you remember?"

Kurama backed up from the seething fire demon. "No, of course not, Hiei. I just remembered myself today." 

Hiei turned to 'Wari. "Get up 'Wari, you know how I hate your formality."

He then plopped himself on Kurama's bed. "You know this morning I though I was only a few hundred years old. Now it's turned to thousands." 

Yo-mawari smiled, "You're taking it better that Kurama, though."

Kurama crossed his arms and pouted, "Hey I was injured to you know. I didn't faint because of it!"

Yo-ma turned to his brother and smirked, "Sure, whatever you say, Kyodai-kun." 

Kurama stuck his tongue out at 'Wari and Hiei was suddenly remembered of the old days, as a member of the Genai Rhyodan, the most famous band of thieves in the Makai. 

_And there was only six of us in all. _Hiei sighed and flickered to a corner of the room as Kurama and 'Wari began to wrestle on the floor. 

__

To be continued...

That's the end of chapter six. I hope you liked it. I can't wait for your reviews! I'll be waiting for them. 


	7. Chapter 7 The Harlequin, part 1

Hi! I'm Yo-ma! I'm using characters from various Fanfiction and will give the authors credit in the chapters they appear in. The next few chapters will introduce some characters from Koko-chan and the Blue Spanch. Please don't get angry with me for using your characters. If you want me to take the story off of FanFiction.Net, please tell me. 

This is my story, it is YAOI (meaning male/male relationships for those unused to the anime world.) If you don't like it, don't read it! Got that?

I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO!!! So don't sue me I don't have anything.

This occurs after the movies and ovas. 

Thoughts are in _Italics. _***** means change in scene.

__

Please Read and Review! I would love to hear anything you have to say! Flames are even accepted!

Here is some feedback for all of my wonderful reviewers!

Zaeria: Thank you for your Reviews! Here's a chapter all for you! I couldn't have Keiko bash Yuusuke's head in for leaving him, but I promise she will beat o him later on! Unfortunately, the pixies won't be punished anytime soon, it's in their nature to do what they did. I may have Yuusuke beat on them later on! 

Monita: Hiei and Kurama are bonded, like the youkai version of marriage, but they can sense when the other's in danger. 'Wari's going to be in and out of the story until I finish the small series concerning the 'Quin, The Piper, and Van. (You'll meet the 'Quin in this small story.) This story is more like a collection of the adventures of the Reikai Tantei. So every few chapters can be a mini-story, or something like that. 

dragonfoxloversforever and Talia: Thank you for your reviews, they've really helped me write on! 

evvy: Read the section at the top. The real author knows about this, and is okay with it. 

Katy, Anrui, Anya, and everqueen: You guys are the best! Sorry for the long wait, but my computer broke down and everything. So, I'm posting two chapters this time. Hope you like them. ^_^ 

On with the story!

The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho 

Chapter 7 The Harlequin, part 1

The Lord of Demons sat on the throne that he'd built from the bones of his predecessor, staring at the ball of captive lightning that hung before him in the murky air of the great Hall, thinking of conquest. 

With a word and a gesture, he commanded it to show him the worlds that hovered here together in the vastness of space as if for comfort against the terrible emptiness, linked forever together. 

__

Linked, that is the word. He thought moodily. _Only one world out of the whole lot is truly real. Each Lord would like to say that his is the real one, but even the dead Netherworld king would have to admit that it isn't so._ He shifted to rest his chin on one fist, the rustle of his robes sending faint echoes in the dead-silent Hall. 

__

The Ningenkai world is our anchor, our lodestone. It is also, he thought with some ironic amusement, _masterless. Perhaps I can correct that oversight, if I can get past the security system._

Responding to its master's thoughts, the globe of crackling light showed the images of those he had thought of. A ningen that had died before his time and had been brought back, a silver kitsune, a Forbidden Child who bore a black dragon, a ningen with no other claim to fame than an unusual amount of spiritual energy and the build and brains of a water buffalo. There was also an oar-riding spirit-world girl, and a couple of temple priestesses, but they were generally peripheral players. 

An unlikely group, but one that had steadily beaten off every single supernatural attack that had been thrown at them for years. Not even the Netherworld king had been able to survive his grasp for power. 

__

This requires caution. I must think. 

The Lord of Demons was an oddity among his kind. He was cautious, patient, and sneaky, traits that had been of great assistance to his ascending the throne. 

The previous Lord had bulled his way to the throne by sheer brute force, and then had foolishly challenged the great Lord Enma of the Spirit World. Enma had prevailed, of course, sending his adversary's charred husk back to the Demon world in a paper bag. The inevitable scramble for power had begun shortly after this event. 

Yashi had merely stood by and let the others kill themselves off before calmly assassinating the winner and taking the throne for himself. He was quite veil and had now problem with shooting an opponent in the back, after all. He hadn't stopped there. 

He studied. He visited the shattered Netherworld in the far reaches of space, he spied on the other worlds. he would not be caught short just because he didn't know how another world worked. 

But these guardian ningens, now. They had stood off assault after assault with hardly a hitch. How was he to get around them... 

__

Yes! That's it! They have stood off those assaults because they **were** assaults! Everything that has attacked them has been single-minded, destructive. What would they do about something that wasn't? Something fey and whimsical? 

Now this was an interesting line of thought. Lord Yashi had several creatures among his troops that would fit the bill, but he rejected that notion. He had ruled with an iron fist for so long now that his demons were totally compliant, like animated marionettes. Boring. Boredom had been a problem for him for several decades now. He needed a challenge. 

"Bring me the Harlequin." He commanded. 

A group of demons that had lined the walls of the hall like grotesque statues came to life and scrambled out of the room. Lord Yashi felt some well-earned smugness as he waited, fingering the ring on the middle finger of his left hand. 

The Harlequin, easily distracted as he was, had been difficult to capture and harder to control. Lord Yashi generally kept him locked in a huge crystal when not trying to break his spirit. A clatter of claws on stone heralded the demons' return as they struggled under the immense weight of the rock. 

The Harlequin was visible inside, a tall man-shaped creature in red and black. Two long curved horns, striped red and black, curled around and down from his temples. A black cape decorated with the four card suits in scarlet draped his shoulders, concealing a tightly-muscled, athletic body beneath. High cheekbones and large eyes, now closed as if in sleep, dominated the black face, and a faint smile seemed to be a permanent feature. A heavy gold collar encircled his neck. 

The demons set the stone down and backed away, bowing and scraping, from their master. With a gesture from Lord Yashi, a crack formed in the crystal, spreading until it resembled a tower of cobwebs, and then shattered. The Harlequin landed on one knee in the shards, shaking his head muzzily. 

"Harlequin." Lord Yashi said, calling his slave to attention. 

Two luminous, pupilless yellow eyes stared into his as the Harlequin snapped his head up and bared sharp white teeth in fury. 

Then, with a soundless shriek of pure rage, he leaped high into the air, cape spreading out like wings behind him, a silvery sword in one hand. But before he could bring the bitter-sharp blade down on Lord Yashi's head, a force field knocked him sprawling to the floor. 

"Now really, Harlequin," Yashi said gloatingly. "We can't have that. Do calm down." 

As he spoke, the collar around Harlequin's neck blazed with light and he screamed silently again, this time in pain. When the glow abated, Yashi spoke.   
"I have a job for you, my bicolor servant. These people in the Ningenkai-" He caused the globe of lightning to show several images, "Yu Yu Hakusho, they call themselves-Find them. Confuse them. Do your best to kill them. I will be watching." 

The Harlequin had gotten to his feet while his master had been talking, and now spat on the floor at Yashi's feet, and flickered away into the shadows between worlds before Yashi could do anything about it. 

Yashi fumed for a moment, and then calmed himself. the annoying little twerp would have quite enough trouble once he found the Spirit Detectives. 

*****

Yuusuke ambled out of the theater, munching on some leftover popcorn. It was early in the evening, so he didn't have to hurry home just yet. "I think I'll stop at the Arcade for a while." He said thoughtfully. "They should have gotten that new game machine in today." 

The shortest route to the Arcade was through a maze of gloomy alleys, but Yuusuke wasn't worried. After spending a few years fighting things with more teeth and tentacles and claws than your average mugger, a mere street gang would seem like shooting fish in a barrel. 

He wondered absently if he would have to pry Kuwabara off the new game before he got a chance to try it out. 

Halfway through the alleys, though, Yuusuke's instincts started screaming. Something was behind him somewhere, watching, waiting for the right moment. 

He turned around slowly, searching the shadows for any movements, ears straining for any sound. Seeing and hearing nothing, he continued on his way. 

There! He'd heard something, soft footsteps not quite in synchrony with his own. Someone was following him. Once again, he stopped and looked around. 

Nothing on the ground or the walls-! The roof! The alley he was in ran right behind a house that had ornamental Fu dogs perched on the corners, and the one on the near corner had been damaged somehow. It seemed to have been replaced, only that new statue bore little resemblance to its fellows. 

The hairs on the back of Yuusuke's neck stood straight up as the "statue" turned its horned head and treated him to a glowing topaz gaze. 

"Who are you?" Yuusuke yelled. "What do you want here?"   
The Harlequin did not answer. Instead, he leaped lightly off the roof to land in the alley right behind Yuusuke. 

Yuusuke sprang away just in time to dodge a fistful of what appeared to be... confetti? Yuusuke paused, confused. He had been assaulted before with all manner of things, but confetti was new to him. A steely rasp from his left made him look up. 

The Harlequin stood under the glow of a street lamp, holding a long, slim sword over one shoulder and watching Yuusuke with amused curiosity. _"Crap,"_ he thought, _"this thing's taller than Kuwabara, and agile! _

"Just my luck," Yuusuke said aloud. "I go out for one evening alone and I get assaulted by a psychotic mime." 

That did it. The faint smile on the Harlequin's face disappeared and he sprang forward suddenly, sword flashing in a dizzying pattern. 

Yuusuke ducked and dodged for all he was worth, only to get knocked sprawling by a backhanded blow to the face. 

He got up unsteadily, shaking his head to make the stars go away. When his sight cleared, his adversary was standing still, watching him impatiently with narrowed eyes. 

_"What's he waiting for?"_ thought Yuusuke. 

The Harlequin hissed softly through his teeth and put away his sword. In one smooth movement, he then stood tiptoe on one foot while bringing his right hand up to point straight at Yuusuke. 

As the tip of his index finger began to glow, Yuusuke felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. It seemed that he wasn't the only one with a Rei Gun. A flicker of movement caught his eye just then, for the flowing finger was merely a diversion for the real attack. With a swift frisbee-throwing motion, Harlequin let fly a deck of razor-edged cards that pinned Yuusuke to the wall, followed by a ball of flame that would have burned Yuusuke to a crisp if he hadn't torn himself free just in time. 

Singed and leaking blood from dozens of small cuts that hurt like hell, Yuusuke glared at his adversary as it laughed silently and produced another fireball. Instead of hurling it, however, the Harlequin began tossing it from hand to hand, adding more and more until he was juggling a ring of flame. With a mischievous smile, he began throwing them at Yuusuke. 

Yuusuke, however, had had enough of this and decided to return the favor. "Rei Gun!!" he shouted and let fly with a searing beam of blue light that lit up the alley with an actinic flare, aiming straight for the center of the ring of fire. 

For once, his unorthodox aiming didn't work. Instead of being overloaded by a new influx of raw power and exploding dramatically as he should have, the Harlequin caught the beam and held it in the center of the ring, still juggling. 

The ring flared higher, brighter and miniature lightning crackled of the ring and the juggler, crawling over the walls. The Harlequin was delighted and showed it, grinning broadly, tossing the fires in ever more confusing patterns, totally distracted. 

Mesmerized by the blinding display, Yuusuke completely missed the smaller, brief flare of light at the Harlequin's throat. What he did see, however, was that the juggler's expression suddenly changed from delight to pain, and then to anger, eyes flashing red. 

The pattern shifted again, and Yuusuke found himself looking straight down the bore of Hell. The Harlequin was furious, fighting for control of his mind as his cursed master tried to force him to release the ring at Yuusuke. Harlequin wasn't having any of that. He liked this ningen kid with the fast moves and nifty Rei Gun. With a supreme effort, he yanked himself sideways as the force exploded away from him, slagging an abandoned tenement into a lumpy puddle. Breathing heavily, he flashed an apologetic look at Yuusuke, and left. 

Yuusuke was officially boggled. Confetti, cards, and rings of fire for no reason from a _totally silent opponent._

He knew how monsters and demons worked, and that was not it. They usually had a reason, they never used confetti, and they always made a lot of noise. 

Your average Supervillain would happily spend half an hour running of his mouth before attempting to blow your shorts off, never mind that this one also caught and channeled a Rei Gun blast without breaking a sweat. Yuusuke decided that his mother could survive a little worry and headed off toward Genkai's temple. 

*****

It was full dark when he got there, but the windows were warmly lit by candle light. Sliding open the door, he saw Genkai, Hinageshi, and Yukina sipping tea. 

"There you are, Yuusuke," Genkai said. "I thought you had forgotten that we were meeting here tonight. I was just about to send Hinageshi out to find you." She paused a moment, getting a good look at him as he stepped into the light. "Yuusuke, what happened? You look like a train wreck."   
"Genkai!" Yuusuke howled. "I'm hallucinating!" 

"That must have been some hallucination," Yukina said, putting down her cup. "They generally don't leave you looking like a train wreck."   
"This one did." Yuusuke sat down with a thump and accepted a cup of tea from Yukina. "It was a psychotic mime, only I shouldn't call it that 'cause it goes ballistic if you insult it. Where's the first-aid kit?" 

Hinageshi giggled, but Genkai stared straight at Yuusuke. "Tell me what happened." She said, deadly serious.   
Yuusuke flashed her a startled look, but proceeded to tell her the story of his fight. As he did, Genkai stood up and opened a hidden compartment in the wall and withdrew a large, yellowing scroll. 

"Is this the one that got you?" She asked, opening the scroll when he had finished. 

Yuusuke nearly choked on his tea when he saw the illustration. Topaz eyes and a faint smile, slender sword in one hand and a fireball in the other. "That's him!" He said, wiping his face with one sleeve. "Who is that?" 

"He is the Harlequin, and you are lucky to be alive. Or maybe not. It's rather hard to tell with this one."   
"Huh?" Was Yuusuke's brilliant answer.   
"Exactly. You said that you had just seen a movie?"   
"Yes. And I was finishing my popcorn on the way out."   
"Hmm." Genkai studied the faded script for a moment, then scowled. "What movie was it?"   
"A remake of 'Ran'. Why?" 

"Nothing in here about him hating good movies. Or popcorn." Genkai muttered. "Yuusuke, I will warn you to be very careful for a while. The Harlequin is exceptionally powerful and unpleasantly arbitrary. He is easily distracted, but totally unpredictable, and needs no reasons for what he does. His appearance here could spell utter disaster, or merely a strange week. Keep an eye out for him and report his actions to me. This is important, boy! Don't forget!"   
"Yes ma'am!" Yuusuke said, saluting.   
Genkai smiled at his irrepressible attitude and dug the first-aid kit out of its cabinet. "Here," she said. "Patch yourself up and go home. Your mother will be frantic. I will inform the others about this." 

Genkai was right, as Yuusuke found out about a half-hour later. His mother was frantic. 

*****

The following evening, Kuwabara walked alone along the streets of the town, casing his turf and thinking. 

Genkai had sent him a letter earlier in the day that made now sense whatsoever. It seemed to make perfect sense to Yuusuke, who had scampered off after school just because some of the school's wrestling team had treed a stripey mime on top of the flagpole that afternoon. 

Kuwabara had nearly laughed himself sick, watching the jocks barking around the base of the flagpole like hounds around a treed raccoon. Come to think of it, though, Yuusuke had been jumpy all day. Maybe he owed the mime money or something. 

By now, Kuwabara had reached the western edge of his territory, an old basketball court that had been built by the local government in the hopes that the gangs would give up war for sport. 

Fat chance. You can't do ambushes in basketball. He leaned against one net to watch the last remnants of a spectacular sunset and took out Genkai's letter. It was hard enough for him to read her calligraphy as it was, and the failing light made it harder. Something about a harlequin, whatever the hell that was. 

Soft running footsteps accompanied by the unmistakable sound of a basketball hitting the pavement made him look up. As he did, the sounds stopped abruptly. 

"What?" He muttered, looking around for the player that was not there. 

Something went _foom_ and lit up the court right above his head, and Kuwabara dove for the sidelines as the Harlequin slam-dunked a fireball through the net, crisping it and leaving a perfect chrysanthemum scorched on the pavement. 

Kuwabara scrambled to his feet in a fighting crouch, ready to face any adversary. What he faced, however, was no simple, everyday crazed arsonist. It was the mime from earlier that day, only it wasn't funny anymore. 

Few times in his life it was that he had to look up to meet the gaze of any man, but as it approached him, smiling, his heart froze. This thing wasn't human. No man had glowing topaz eyes, or moved as though he were weightless. 

"Get back!" he barked, manifesting his Rei Sword. 

The Harlequin grinned like a crescent moon and drew his own sword with a metallic-silken sound, loud in the evening stillness. 

Kuwabara returned the Harlequin's smile and attacked, knowing that steel blades shattered under the burning onslaught of the Rei Sword. He was surprised, therefore, when the Harlequin not only knocked his attack aside but launched a dizzying array of slashes that left Kuwabara defending desperately, driven back step after step. 

Finally, backed into a corner, he resolved to sell his life dearly to his foe, who hadn't stopped smiling since the fight started. Then, to his amazement, the harlequin disappeared. 

Kuwabara stepped out into the court, looking around suspiciously. This fight reminded him of the sparring matches that he occasionally had with Hiei, who had a rotten habit of vanishing whenever he got bored or was losing. 

Someone dragged a finger up his backbone suddenly, causing him to yelp in surprise and whirl around. Nobody there. 

A pinch on the butt made him spin around again, only to face nothing. Then the unseen hands sprinkled something that prickled down the back of his neck. With a roar of rage, he turned a third time, and this time the Harlequin was there. 

Before Kuwabara could react appropriately, though, one black-and-red hand snaked out and honked his nose soundly. It sounded rather like a bike horn. 

The Harlequin sprang back half a court away as a fuming Kuwabara slashed furiously at him. Kuwabara didn't mind being offed honorably in a fight with such a fearsome opponent, but he absolutely refused to be made fun of by this one and let him get away with it. 

With a roar, he charged his foe, intent on slicing that mocking smile in half. The Harlequin spun once like an abbreviated ballet dancer and came down in a crouch, bringing his hands together with a resounding smack. 

As he did, his cape flared out and dozens of small, brightly colored fireworks whizzed out, whistling and crackling, and headed straight for Kuwabara like a horde of starved mosquitoes. 

Forced to deal with the swarm of firecrackers, Kuwabara did not see the Harlequin's collar flash. What he did see, as he crushed out the final whizzing mote, was a red-eyed whirlwind of gleaming steel coming right at him. 

Again he was driven into the corner, this time fast enough to make him hit his head on the wall. He faltered briefly as he sight doubled, and refocused just in time to see the point of Harlequin's bitter-sharp blade heading right for that spot between his eyes. 

Somehow, instead of shish-kebabbing Kuwabara's brain, the sword wound up buried in the brick wall just above his ear, opening a small, thin razor-cut on his temple. 

He heard the hiss of the Harlequin's breath and watched the redness fade from the yellow eyes. The Harlequin, no longer smiling, pulled his sword from the wall, gave Kuwabara a deeply apologetic look, and disappeared into the shadows. 

Kuwabara remained flat against the wall, trying to get his heart started again. Something copper-salty dribbled into his mouth, his own blood. He staggered out of the corner, bruised, burnt and boggled, wiping the cut on his temple with one sleeve. His back still prickled from whatever it was that the Harlequin had poured down there.   
"Well," He said absently. "at least I know why Yuusuke was so twitchy today." 

Then he headed for Genkai's Temple at a dead run. 

"Genkai!" He wailed as he slid open the door. "I'm hallucinating!"   
Genkai, Yukina, Hinageshi, and Yuusuke were there, and none of them looked particularly surprised to see him. 

"You too?" Yuusuke asked, pouring him a cup of tea. "He must have gotten you pretty badly; you've got confetti leaking out of the back of your shirt."   
Kuwabara chugged his tea in one gulp and held his cup out for more. "What was that thing?" He asked. "It looked like a clown from a really weird circus, but it fought like three ninjas at once."   
"Didn't you read my message?" Genkai asked. "I know you got it, Kuwabara."   
"So I can't read your handwriting." He said, sipping his second cup of tea. "Big deal. What's a harlequin, anyway?" 

Yuusuke put his face in his hands and sighed. "C'mon, man," He said. "Don't you ever look up words you don't know?"   
"No."   
"This is the Harlequin." Genkai said, displaying the scroll. 

Hinageshi had to hit the floor to avoid the spray as Kuwabara lost control. Yukina got up to get a towel.   
"It's a good picture, isn't it?" Yukina asked, mopping up the puddle.   
"Yeah."   
"What were you doing when he attacked you?" Genkai asked. "Don't leave out any details. This creature is capricious, and potentially hazardous. I'd like to know what he was doing here, and just what attracted him." 

"I was in that old basketball court, watching the sun set and trying to read your letter."   
Genkai scowled over the ancient scroll. "No, this says nothing about him disliking sunsets, messages, or sports arenas. Tell me about your fight." 

Genkai listened attentively as he, rather embarrassed about some parts, told her the whole thing. 

"The same as what happened to Yuusuke." She mused. "A relentless barrage of fighting techniques that make Yuusuke's strangest ones look boring, followed by a narrowly averted death-blow. And a silent apology. Something is very wrong here."   
"No kidding." Yuusuke and Kuwabara said in unison.   
"What is it?" Asked Hinageshi.   
"There should be no pattern at all to his attacks." Genkai replied. "He should also be making some sort of sound, laughter and the like. It may just be a coincidence that the two attacks are alike, but I doubt it, especially because he has been silent both times. The Harlequin is well known for being noisy." 

"So what do we do?" Kuwabara asked.   
"Keep an eye out for him. Whatever you do, don't try to fight again, or you may not survive the experience. Watch what he does, and then tell me about it. Yuusuke has the same instructions."   
"Yes sir, ma'am sir!"   
"Don't you start." 

To be continued...

And that the end of Chapter 7. How did you like it? Do you have any ideas for me to use? I'd love to hear them. Read and Review. 


	8. Chapter 8 The Harlequin, part 2

Hi! I'm Yo-ma! I'm using characters from various Fanfiction and will give the authors credit in the chapters they appear in. The next few chapters will introduce some characters from Koko-chan and the Blue Spanch. Please don't get angry with me for using your characters. If you want me to take the story off of FanFiction.Net, please tell me. 

This is my story, it is YAOI (meaning male/male relationships for those unused to the anime world.) If you don't like it, don't read it! Got that?

I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO!!! So don't sue me I don't have anything.

This occurs after the movies and ovas. 

Thoughts are in _Italics. _***** means change in scene. 

__

Please Read and Review! I would love to hear anything you have to say! Flames are even accepted!

To all of my reviewers;

Since I took so long to update, I'm posting two chapters at once. I hope you like part 2 of the Harlequin! 

The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho 

Chapter 8 The Harlequin, part 2

Kurama knelt in his garden, mulching the roses and thinking. He knew he was forgetting something, but darned if he could remember what it was. The feeling nagged at him like a hangnail, and he crushed a Japanese beetle out of sheer frustration. 

_"I'd better go in soon."_ he thought. _"The sun's almost gone."_

He then got the creepy feeling that everybody fears; The feeling that someone is standing right behind you and _grinning_, but that was silly. He felt no youki at all, not even an insect's... Wait a minute. 

Something had blanked out all the ki in the yard. Something went _swish_ behind him, and, out of pure instinct born of centuries of being attacked out of the night, he held up the dirt-crusted trowel in defense. 

KCHING!! 

When he pulled the trowel back, half of it was missing. "Aw, man," he moaned. "Mom's gonna kill me." 

He heard an unseen blade hiss toward him again, and rolled away just in time to see his rosebush get an abrupt pruning. 

Seriously annoyed by this, he grabbed the nearest weapon at hand, the garden hose. Yuusuke wasn't the only one who could get by with strange tactics, so Kurama let his shadowy assailant have it right in the face with a jet of water. 

While it sputtered, he grabbed a rose from the stricken bush. "Rose Whip!" he hollered, and snapped the thorny vine at his enemy... Who was not there. 

__

"Where'd he go?!" he thought. 

Just then, somebody grabbed the back of his pants and pulled, simultaneously dropping a handful of something prickly down them. Kurama was treated to the world's first confetti wedgie. 

"Yoww!" 

Whirling around, he saw the Harlequin, still dripping and with sword drawn. Kurama cracked his whip at him, only to have it sliced cleanly in half. Kurama, however, had been studying Greek mythology in class lately, and the story of the Hydra came to mind. Within moments, his Rose Whip was a writhing mass of sharp-edged vines. With an expert flick of his wrist, he caught the harlequin's sword arm and tore the blade out of its grasp, hurling it across the yard. 

The Harlequin blocked the next slash with a large card and snatched up a thick chain out of the grass. Kurama had used the chain earlier in the day for planting a cherry tree sapling. 

_"Oh, crap! I should have put that thing back in the garage!"_

The Harlequin wasted no time in demonstrating that he was no slouch with a whip, either. Chain and thorn met with staccato bursts of sound as the fighters strove to prevail, and the garden suffered as a result. Kurama was careful about the topiary, but the Harlequin had no such reservations.

Every plant, tree, and shrub got an unplanned pruning, several bricks had been removed from the wall of the house, and somehow during the melee, fifty pounds of plaster wound up being dumped into his mother's window boxes. 

The hose was also used a great deal, and both of them were soaked by the time they had to stop to catch their breath. 

The Harlequin was having a grand old time. he hadn't had a whip-battle with an agile youko for centuries, and he was enjoying every minute. He knew he would eventually have to retrieve his sword and shave this kid or something, but that could wait just a little longer-OW! OW! OW! _Shit! Damn you, Yashi!_

Kurama had barely managed to get the water out of his eyes when he was forced to defend himself desperately against a terrifying series of splashes that he barely countered, getting his whip snarled irrevocably in the chain. 

The Harlequin spun around him, wrapping him tightly in the mass of thorn and steel and paused, staring into Kurama's eyes with his own blood-hued ones, and smiled unpleasantly. 

A small fireball appeared in his free hand, and he lit the end of the vine-tangled chain with it. The chain sputtered, sparked and started to burn exactly like the fuse of a very large firework. Kurama cried out in fear, for he knew all too well what would happen when that spark reached the main mass... 

A flash of silver light shot across the yard, slicing the fuse just before disaster, and stuck with a "chunk" noise in the wall of the house. 

Kurama looked at the wall and saw the Harlequin's sword quivering in the brickwork, and then his bonds fell away in a cloud of rust. 

His knees didn't want to hold him up anymore, so he sat down in a hurry. Seeing a movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned and saw the Harlequin. 

Something was very wrong with the creature. Its eyes kept flashing red and yellow, and it swayed unsteadily on its feet, its face a rictus of agonized fury. It turned a topaz gaze on him, this time in apology, and dissolved into darkness. 

Kurama got up once he could rust his legs again and pulled the sword out of the wall. A thin, deadly blade that looked as though it was made of fine silver, with the four card suits enameled on the base of the sword blade in scarlet and pitch black. 

Almost absent-mindedly, he rigged a sort of sling for the sword from the remnants of his whip and slung it over his shoulder. he then noticed that a piece of paper had fallen out of his pocket during the fight, and he picked it up and smoothed it out as best as he could. No use, it was totally illegible. "Oh, wait," he said, a notion striking him. "Now I know what I was forgetting! Genkai sent me a letter." 

His mind was bruised enough so that he stood there for a few minutes in a warm fog of pride for remembering this, and then a prickling sensation in his shorts reminded him that yes, there was a real world out there. 

Until a supercharged cheetah makes the trip, Kurama is the winner of the Fast Feets Award for getting to Genkai's temple in a screaming hurry. 

*****

"Genkai!" He wheezed as he slid open the door of the temple. "I'm hallucinating!"   
"You aren't the only one." Genkai replied, indicating the presence of Yuusuke and Kuwabara.   
"Looks like you seriously annoyed the 'Quinn." Yuusuke said, passing the damp youko a cup of strong tea. "You're wet, torn up, and leaking confetti out of your pant legs. How'd that happen?"   
"Confetti wedgie." Kurama managed between gulps.   
Kuwabara winced in sympathy. "What'd you do to deserve that?"   
"I sprayed it in the face with the garden hose. Pour me another cup, please? thank you. Genkai, just what was that thing? I've never met anything that was as good with a whip as I am." 

"Let me guess." Genkai said, retrieving her scroll from its compartment. "You got my letter but never read it."   
"I was doing my homework, and then I went out to weed and mulch the garden. I didn't even remember it until after the fight, and by then it was trashed."   
"A valid excuse, I suppose. Is this the one that got you?" 

Kurama yelped and spilled his tea when he saw the picture. "That's the one! Who or what is that guy, Genkai?"   
"If you had read the letter I sent you, you would have known."   
"Genkai, _please!_" 

"All right. His name is the Harlequin. He has more than the accepted level of power, and he uses it in ways most whimsical, and often, unpleasant. As you have already noticed, he's more or less unbeatable alone, and his methods are not necessarily honorable. The Harlequin is random, arbitrary, and hopelessly silly. He doesn't have to make sense if he doesn't want to, so don't bother trying to figure him out. What he is, though, is unbelievably dangerous. Lately, though, there has been an actual pattern to his attacks, and this is very wrong. What were you doing when he attacked?" 

"Like I said, Genkai, I was working in my garden. Mulching the roses, to be precise."   
Genkai pored over the scroll for a minute. "Huh." She said. "Nothing in here about him disliking roses or gardening. Oh, wait; he doesn't approve of petunias."   
"Well, that explains the fifty pounds of plaster in my mother's window boxes. She's gonna be mad about that."   
"That's small stuff. Tell me the rest of it." 

Kurama told his story, even the part about the confetti wedgie. In sympathy, Kuwabara and Yuusuke told him theirs. At the end of it all, Kurama looked mournfully into his empty teacup and sighed. "Poor Hiei."   
"Why 'poor Hiei'?" Kuwabara demanded. "Why are you feeling sorry for that shrimpy renegade?" 

"If this pattern plays out like I think it's going to play out, Hiei's the next target." Kurama said. "Kuwabara, Yuusuke, consider this; Hiei has a great deal of dignity and no sense of humor whatsoever. The Harlequin has played a number of dirty little tricks on us, from cards to nose-honking to confetti wedgies. How well do you think Hiei's going to take that?"   
"Urk." Yuusuke said.   
"I think I'll go and build a bomb shelter." Kuwabara added.   
"I may join you." Said Genkai. "Kurama, keep an eye out for this creature. If he shows up here again, I want to hear about it. Got that?"   
"Yessir!"   
"Good boy. Next time, read your mail first." 

"Okay." Kurama paused then, remembering something. "Hey, Genkai, the Harlequin was messed up enough to forget this when he left. Would it help?" He pulled the sword from behind him and handed it to Genkai. 

"Kurama," Genkai said as she reverently took the sword from him. "I could find out both where he is and what is wrong with him with this thing.   
At that point, the teapot's lid shot off, followed by a geyser of water, and all the candles started burning with a red-and-black flame. 

"Incoming!" Shouted Genkai. 

The others hit the floor as a yellow-eyed shadow swooped down out of a dark corner like an oversized bat and snatched the blade from the floor where Genkai had dropped it, and then disappeared in a cloud of confetti. The teapot stopped spitting at that point, and the candles returned to normal. 

"What the hell was that?" Yuusuke asked, lifting himself off the floor. "And for that matter, Genkai, why are you wearing those Groucho glasses?"   
"The teapot and the candles were a side effect of the security systems failing to keep the Harlequin out. The Groucho glasses are a side effect of the Harlequin being silly again. By the way, you're wearing a party hat, Kuwabara's wearing a tutu, and Kurama is now wearing a dress. He looks better in it that I would, come to think of it." 

Kurama blushed bright red, looking very uncomfortable and incredibly feminine. 

Kuwabara was unable to contain his laughter. 

"Hey!" Kurama said, still red as a cherry. "You're looking pretty cute too, tutu boy! Especially the pretty pink bows in your hair!" 

Things would have gone drastically downhill at this point if Genkai hadn't shoved the two of them into the back room. "There are a couple of robes in the closet." She said. "I suggest that you make use of them."   
"Yes, Ma'am." They said in dismal unison. 

*****

Hiei sat on top of his favorite pine tree, thinking. 

He was reminiscing about last winter at the ice rinks, where Kurama had tried to teach him how to ice skate. Hiei hadn't been any good at it, but he got all sorts of enjoyment watching his friend skim over the ice like a bird. His favorite scene had been a quiet one. The moon had been very full, and the night was still as the heart of amber. 

A dusting of silver snow was falling, outlining Kurama in a glittering nimbus as he gracefully skated around the court. 

Tonight was much like that night; the moon was just as full, the night just as quiet, the snowfall just as silver. Perhaps he and Kurama could, like that other night last winter, do again what they had done that night in the snowdrifts... Hold it. It's not winter. 

Hiei looked up, trying to find the source of the drifting sparkles. Someone was standing right behind him with a fistful of silver glitter and eyes like topaz. Then, to his surprise, his Evil Eye jerked wide open. 

He had left his headband off tonight. He had been feeling a little jumpy for some reason and didn't want to be caught unawares by anything. It hadn't worked. 

Without his wishing it, Hiei looked into the mind of the Harlequin and saw... 

__

...delighted laughter of innocent children mixing rainbow-colored sweet threads with demented mad merriment of crazed carnivals in a blaze of darkness coming light at the end of the tunnel is an oncoming dragon endless curiosity broken in billions of shards in a shattered universe in the mind of mine own memory small jokes big jokes nice jokes nasty jokes the cards are all jokers the tarot says so and I am the tarot hear my singing the discordant music of the itinerant performers freaks and frauds and too-real magicks tangled in the lights that outshine the stars and lend their color to the featureless population there is no reality here mundanes have no faces we have many they are me and I am them and have been them for thousands of thousands of thousands aw you get the picture you see the carnivals the circuses the festivals the feasts it goes further back I'll tell you even the daimyos and shoguns and emperors had to laugh at something at the tricks that brought down egos but only I laughed at the tricks that brought down empires it goes all the way back to the Early Times when the first man-ape thought to put old seaweed on a sleeping chieftain's head he smelled funny for just days they had a good giggle about that I can tell you and it's only gotten better since then every time someone laughs at another's humiliation at another's tricks and jokes it is a prayer to me as you can guess I'm pretty strong by now wanna see you have silver confetti in your hair what were you thinking about anyway your temperature went up several degrees for a moment there did you know that... 

Hiei tore his mind away with an effort, for there is always something perversely fascinating about a twisted mind. 

He tied his headband on, not wanting to have that experience again. he looked up again, just to make sure that what he saw was real and not a hallucination. It wasn't. 

The Harlequin gave him a Mona Lisa smile and vigorously rubbed the rest of the confetti into Hiei's hair. Hiei growled, whipped out his sword, and attempted to stick it up the Harlequin's nose. 

Just one problem with that, though. Not only was Hiei short, but he was sitting down. The Harlequin was six and a half feet tall and had stood up straight the moment Hiei went for his sword. 

All the same, it nearly worked, missing the 'Quin's nose by a quarter inch. 

The Harlequin critically tested the sharpness of the point with one finger, nodded, and drew his own blade. 

Hiei wasn't going to take this sitting down. he sprang to another tree and turned to face his opponent. The Harlequin lifted his sword in salute and sprang towards Hiei, his blade flashing silver in the moonlight. Hiei met his attack with the smooth skill of decades of survival practice. 

The sound of the clashing swords rang through the night like militant bells as they danced through the treetops, and Hiei found himself enjoying the fight.

Kuwabara had a flashy sword, but he had little skill or technique with it. Sparring with him was boring, but this guy! This stripey weirdo had finesse! The fight soon exhausted the possibilities of the treetops, so they took it down to ground level and battled around the trunks instead. 

Down there, however, the fight ceased to be fun as the Harlequin's sword tricks turned frustrating and annoying. 

The Harlequin began using confetti again, and it is very hard to concentrate when fireworks are trying to lodge themselves in your ear. 

Hiei was in a pretty foul temper when they stopped for a breather in a clearing. 

The Harlequin leaned his sword against one shoulder and gave Hiei a faintly puzzled look, as if trying to figure something out. 

"What's your problem?" Hiei asked angrily.   
His foe gave him a silly grin and made a series of gestures that communicated to Hiei what he was thinking; something along the lines of: "You're a pretty good swordsman, for somebody who's knee-high to a crab louse." 

Hiei was very sensitive about his height, or rather lack thereof, and he was in a rotten mood already. 

With a roar, he cast away his sword and rushed the Harlequin, grabbing the horns that curled from his temples in preparation of ripping his head right off. 

Hiei knew that he had made a serious mistake the moment he saw the Harlequin drop his sword and reach for his chest. He was prepared to fight on with three or four broken ribs, but he had no idea of what was in store for him 

Two seconds later, he was rolling on the ground, clutching his ribs, and howling. "AAARGHAHAHAHANONONOSTOPSTOP**HELP**! STOP!"   
Hiei had found out to his horror that he was helplessly, hopelessly, unbelievably ticklish.   
The Harlequin eventually stopped and pirouetted away, laughing silently. Hiei dragged himself to his feet, breathless, furious and thoroughly humiliated. 

He had had quite enough of this dancing lunatic. His paltry tricks and silly confetti could not possibly stand up to the might of the Black Dragon. 

"Kokuryuuha!" He shouted, ripping the bandage off of his forearm.   
The Dragon boiled off his wrist with a roar that shattered windows up to four miles away, arching into the sky in a display of sheer power, dimming the moon in a bloody flare. 

The Harlequin merely grinned and applauded, as though the Black Dragon was merely an unusual fireworks display. 

At that point, the Dragon arced back down again, intent on messy destruction. 

A split second before the monster struck, the Harlequin pulled out a card the size of a church door-an Ace of course; he had it up his sleeve-and ducked behind it as the Dragon cannoned dead center into the barrier. 

****

WHAM!!

For some reason, neither the card nor the 'Quin messily disintegrated. Instead, the Dragon struggled to get through, writhed, wavered, and finally slunk back onto Hiei's forearm in the manner of one slightly stunned. 

Hiei dropped to the ground on his butt, too weak to stand, but not quite drained enough to pass out face first into the dirt. For some obscure reason, he had a headache in his wrist. 

Hiei looked up rather dazedly at the Harlequin, who had turned the card into a beach towel and was standing there and grinning at him with the towel over his shoulder. 

Then the collar flashed, nearly doubling the 'Quin over, gasping. Another Harlequin suddenly grew out of the first one's back, one that wore no collar. The second 'Quin stepped around and neatly punched its distressed twin out with a solid, businesslike blow. 

Hiei blinked as the original hit the dirt with an oddly satisfying thump. the Carbon-Copy 'Quin then picked up its out-cold brother, gave Hiei a look that spoke volumes of apology, and ambled off into the forest. 

Hiei sat for a moment in total bafflement. What had just happened in the last five minutes was totally impossible, but yet all those things had still happened. What had just happened? How could it have happened? Who could tell him the answers? 

Genkai. Genkai knew lots of neat stuff. Would she know about a psychotic clown? Probably. Genkai knew everything. Genkai was _good_. Yeah.

Hiei scrambled to his feet and made fast tracks toward the temple, half-teleporting, half running. 

*****

Hiei slammed the temple's door back on its tracks almost hard enough to rip it clean off the wall. He leaned on the door frame for a moment, panting. 

Then, with a singularly sour look for all the people inside, he stated clearly: "I'm. Hallucinating."   
He then stomped inside, snatched Kuwabara's cup, slurped half of it, and then sniffed it suspiciously. 

"Where's the sake?" He demanded. 

Kuwabara looked ready to protest over the sudden annexation of his teacup, but took one look at Hiei-tired, charred here and there, jacket full of holes, bandage dangling loosely from one wrist, and confetti falling from his scalp like snow-and wisely decided not to press the issue. 

Genkai smiled sagely. "I take it that you met the Harlequin. Tell me what happened."   
Hiei glared at her and remained silent.   
Genkai sighed. "It was that sort of fight, eh? Oh, all right." She took a clean cup, half-filled it with tea and brought out a small hip flask.   
"Genkai!" Yukina said, shocked.   
"Yes, I know it's a filthy habit." Genkai said, pouring a liberal amount into the teacup. "It does come in handy at times, however." She added, handing the cup to Hiei, who chugged it. 

Two cups of sake-laced tea later, Hiei was definitely mellower. "Fess up, boy." Genkai said then. "Tell me what happened."   
Hiei gave her a slightly unfocused scowl, leaned on Kurama's shoulder for support and muttered something.   
"What was that?" She asked.   
"He tickled me." Hiei grumped.   
"He _what?!_"   
"He tickled me, all right?"   
"You-You're _ticklish?_" Kuwabara sputtered, and then he started laughing. 

Hiei may have been slightly tipsy, but he was still able to land a respectable backhanded punch on Kuwabara's face, sending him backward through a couple of walls, where he landed with a splash in something. 

"My miso!" Hinageshi cried, dashing after him.   
"Kazuma-chan!" Yukina cried, following her.   
"Frgnhrgin moth-eaten mother of vinegar." Hiei grumbled into his cup. 

Yuusuke then noticed something unusual about Hiei's tattoo. "Hiei?" He asked. "Why does your Dragon have a little band-aid on its head? It looks very unhappy somehow."   
"He deflected it."   
"Hold it." Kurama said in disbelief. "How the hells did he do that?"   
"He had a -hic!- an ace up his sleeve. One the size of one of your Ningen church doors."   
Genkai, Yuusuke, and Kurama groaned at the stupid joke. "I think you'd better tell it from the top, Hiei." Genkai said gravely. "This is serious. That Dragon counts as a god."   
"What, tell all of it?"   
"Yup." 

Hiei told the story of his fight in a slightly slurred voice as Genkai retrieved her scroll again.   
Kuwabara, sporting a shiner and trailing bits of kelp, came into the room in time to hear most of it, and this time, he refrained from chortling at the funnier bits. 

As the tale wound down to its finish, Hiei got unsteadily to his feet, clutching his empty cup in one first. "-And then he pulls this big card outta -hic!- his shleeve, and _wham!_ The Dragon hitsh it, and can't get through it and comesh back to my arm and I gotta headache in my wrisht." Hiei raised his cup toward the ceiling in a dramatic gesture of drunken resolve and declared: "And if I ever shee that shtupid guy again..."   
Hiei's grip tightened on the cup, and the delicate porcelain shattered. Hiei, however, did not seem to notice; he merely stood there with a curiously lucid expression on his face. 

Then he fell like the mighty oak falls in the forest, with only the squirrels to applaud its descent. He hit the floor flat on his back with a soft thud. "Hic!" he said. 

Kurama sighed and tried to help Hiei back into a sitting position, only to wind up with Hiei curled up in his lap, buzzing happily. 

Kurama blushed and refused to meet the eyes of his teammates. Genkai had been too busy looking through the scroll to notice, fortunately. "Nope." She murmured. "Nothing in here about him hating pine trees, sword fights, or short people." Genkai must have been a little more tired than she thought, for the scroll slipped out of her hands. "Whoops!" 

She caught it before it hit her cup, but she wound up holding it backwards so that the illustration was facing Hiei. 

With a growl, he leapt off of Kurama's lap with his sword flashing erratically, intent on doing the image in. 

Instead, he nearly killed the teapot. Hiei gave his sword a sour, off-center glare, pulled it out of the low table, and curled back up in Kurama's lap again. 

Blushing furiously for the second time in as many minutes, Kurama strove to divert attention from himself. "Genkai," Said he, "Just what is the Harlequin? He can't be some renegade Makai carnival reject. It takes a lot of power to fend off my garden and my Rose Whip; this guy had more than enough."   
"Yeah!" Yuusuke said. "The 'Quin caught and channeled my Rei Gun like it was nothing! What gives?"   
"Or my Rei Sword!" Kuwabara added. "How come his sword didn't shatter when I hit it?"   
"How 'bout -hic!- the Kokuryuuha?" Hiei asked. "Psychotic clowns don't deflect Dragons."   
He then looked around, smiling rather foolishly in the hopes that somebody would congratulate him for getting through that sentence without tripping over his own tongue. No one did. 

Genkai sighed almost sadly and rolled up the scroll. "Sorry for not telling you kids about his true nature earlier, but I was a little frazzled. I get that way whenever a Deity doesn't act the way it's supposed to." 

"A _DEITY?_" They chorused in shock.   
"You're telling me that stripey maniac is a _God?_" Kuwabara demanded.   
"Yup, and he's one of the oldest ones, though he's not very well known to the general public."   
"Oh, well," Yuusuke said rather weakly. "We've faced gods before. How strong is this one?"   
"Believe it or not, the Harlequin is stronger than Koenma."   
"Then how come he isn't running one of the other worlds?" Kurama asked.   
"He doesn't want to. He's got incredible wads of power at his command, but he chooses not to use it. That choice drives the other gods, good and evil, totally bananas."   
"How'd he get that strong?" Kuwabara asked. "He must have some incredible workout tapes." 

"If you shut up, I'll tell you the story, okay?" Genkai paused. The room was dead silent. "Right. Well, kids, the Harlequin got his start just when Humanity did, some two million years ago when the apes were learning about walking upright and lower back pain. Life was pretty rotten back then, so the Harlequin gave the proto-humans the one thing that made it bearable: A sense of humor. 

"I'm afraid he cheated there. He arranged it so that he didn't need the same kind of prayers and incense and temples that the other gods required; those kinds of things get boring after a while for most people. Instead, he settled for fun things. Jokes, pranks, and laughter are his prayers. Feasts, festivals, circuses, and carnivals are his temples. Clowns, jesters and fools are his priests, and his incense is the smell of cotton candy, popcorn, and all the other snacks associated with such things. 

"Humans love to party, and have loved it ever since the very beginning. A god's strength lies in the amount of worship it receives, and the 'Quin gets billions of prayers and tons of homage every day." 

"Wow." Yuusuke said, awed. "I bet the other Gods all wanted him to be their buddy."   
"You don't know the half of it." Genkai replied. "The evil gods admired his knack for dark and destructive pranks, not to mention the punch that he packed in a fight. They offered him high standing among their ranks, but he told them to stick it and danced off to over sea some kid's birthday party. 

"The good Gods admired him for the merriment and goodwill that he brought our world; plus they wanted to get a grip on all that power, of course. He thumbed his nose at them and ambled off to throw water balloons at the Prime Minister."   
"And rub confetti into my hair." Muttered Hiei.   
"I take it that you didn't read my message, either?"   
"Genkai," Kurama said quietly. "Hiei can't read. He never had the leisure to learn."   
Genkai stared at him for a moment, and then fined herself a slap on the forehead. "Duh! What a time to forget something like that!"   
Hiei snickered and snuggled deeper into Kurama's front. "Update your scroll while you're at it." He said. "'S not accurate. Picture doesn't have a collar." 

"Come again?" Genkai said, looking sharply at him.   
"'Quin had a collar on. His picture doesn't."   
"A collar."   
"Yup, yup, a collar. Nice thick gold one with funny symbols on it. It flashed and he bent over and there were two of him and the second hit the first one in the nose andandffbttzng... Zzzzz."   
Hiei snored when he was drunk, sometimes. It sounded like a cross between a cat's purr and a very small, very quiet cement mixer. 

"Somebody's controlling him then." Yuusuke said. "That's scary."   
"I should have realized it from the start." Genkai muttered. "We're going to have to catch him, you know, to get that collar off."   
"How the hell are we going to do that?!" Kuwabara exploded. "He nearly took us apart!"   
"Gang up on him." Kurama offered, gently scratching his buzzing friend behind the ears. "Did you notice how only went for us one at a time? Even someone with a mind like a broken mirror has trouble paying attention when there are four or five people coming at him at once."   
"That's a good idea, but just how are we going to find that stripey maniac?" Yuusuke said. "We don't know just where he hangs out during the daytime." 

"Carnival." Hiei murmured.   
"Say that again?" Genkai said uneasily.   
"Carnival. 'S a traveling party that's -don't stop scratching, Kurama- settled in th' Manga district for the past few days. After t'morrow night, 's gonna leave. 'S nice. 'S got all flashy lights 'n roller coasters 'n Ferris wheel 'n wild animals 'n weird tents 'n that thing that goes roundy-roundy-roundy-throw up." 

"The Python." Kuwabara groaned. "I do _not_ want to chase the Harlequin around on that. I feel sick just watching that thing."   
"Or he roller coaster." Yuusuke quavered.   
"The Fun House." Genkai said gloomily. "I've always hated those."   
"The Hall f Mirrors." Kurama stated grimly.   
"Th' -hic!- Tunnel of Love." Hiei said happily.   
They all looked at him funny. Hiei went back to sleep. 

"Actually," Genkai said thoughtfully, shaking off her earlier gloom. "It's not a bad idea at all. Carnivals are one of the Harlequin's favorite hangouts, so he'll be there. I know that he doesn't approve of being controlled by anybody -who does?- so he may well simply allow us to catch him. Then again, he might decide to give us a real run for our money. Either way, this has to be done, and as soon as possible." 

"Not tonight." Kurama said, indicating Hiei. "Hiei's in no shape to go clown hunting right now."   
"Good point." Genkai said, peering at the little fire demon, who was still shedding confetti. "I'll meet you at the carnival tomorrow at seven in the afternoon. It'll give us time to catch him napping if he feels nocturnal."   
"And if he doesn't?" Asked Kuwabara.   
"Then we get to chase him around on the Python. Good night, fellas." 

To be continued....

It's time to Review! please?


	9. Chapter 9 The Harlequin, part 3

The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho

1. Okay this is my first time writing a Yu Yu Hakusho Fanfiction, so excuse me if it seems a little out of whack. I'm using characters from various Fanfiction and will give the authors credit in the chapters they appear in.

2. This is Koko-chan's and the Blue Spanch's story. Please don't be, mad at me for using it and your characters. If you wish for me to take it off the internet, just e-mail me and I will do so. I've also changed a bit of it, like dividing it. (Just don't kill me, please.)

3. This is my story, it is YAOI (meaning male/male relationships for those unused to the anime world.) If you don't like it, don't read it! Got that?

4. I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO!!!! So don't sue me I don't have anything.

5. This occurs after the movie.

6. Thoughts are in _Italics._

On with the story!

Chapter 9

The Harlequin, part 3

Everybody arrived right on time the next day, and met outside the grounds.

They had not come unprepared; Yuusuke and Kuwabara had coils of rope slung bandolier-like over their shoulders, Kurama had a fresh rose tucked behind one ear, Genkai had brought a grappling hook and a pouch full of useful gadgets, and Hiei had a slim chain coiled inside his jacket.

There was a bit of a problem with getting into the Carnival, however. Everybody but Kurama had forgotten to bring any money and Kurama didn't have enough to get them all in.

Hiei solved that problem by disappearing into the crowd for a moment. When he returned, he presented somebody else's loaded wallet. Kuwabara and Yuusuke were fine with this, of course, but Genkai and Kurama muttered curses under their breath as Hiei bought them their tickets. Hiei just looked smug.

They searched that Carnival from top to bottom and from end to end, but they found no trace of the Harlequin anywhere.

By the time that they stopped for a rest at a row of picnic tables, the sun had set and all the colored lights had been lit.

Yuusuke and Genkai sank down onto a bench with near-identical sighs of weariness; Kuwabara had wandered off in search of a cup of noodles. Kurama had purchased a stick of cotton candy at Hiei's insistence- he still hadn't figured the stuff out.

"It's just spun sugar, Hiei," Kurama said, sitting down across from Genkai.   
Hiei eyed the poofy mass suspiciously. "Pink fluffy sugar? How do they get it like that, then? Do they grow it?"   
"No. They have this special machine that heats the sugar and spins it around the stick in tiny threads, and then they pour the color in."   
"It can be any color?"   
"Yes. Look, just try it, okay?"   
"What's it taste like?"   
"Sweet."   
"Sweet what?"   
"No! It's colored sugar, Hiei. Sugar tastes sweet; that's all there is to it."   
"Even with the color?"   
"Yes."   
"Okay." Hiei tore off a piece, sniffed cautiously, and popped it in his mouth. After a second or two, his eyes brightened and he tore into the rest of the fluff with gusto.   
"Hey, watch it with that stuff," Yuusuke said. "It'll make you hyper."   
"Mind your own business," Hiei growled around a mouthful.

Kuwabara had returned and scarfed his noodles, and Hiei had demolished another stick of cotton candy -a blue one this time- before they noticed the change in the music.

For the last three hours they had been listening to the normal calliope music that is the trademark of carnivals, a slightly off-key jingle that sounds like a cross between an accordion and an organ. It had become a sort of white noise, meaningless sounds that are easily ignored. Someone had changed that. It was now playing a menacing version of "Hall of the Mountain King".   
"Guys," Genkai said evenly. "Look over there."

Between a couple of tents to their right, an unpleasantly familiar shadow was dancing. They all started moving in that direction with the slow, deliberate tread of the hunter.

It was the Harlequin, all right. He had attracted a crowd with his antics. He was currently juggling three knives, four flaming torches, two stuffed toy penguins, and one dwarf from the freak tent.

The team spread out in the front of the crowd, ready to strike; Hiei had hit the sugar rush by now and was visibly vibrating.

That was probably what gave them away. The Harlequin locked gazes with all five of them, and then he unloaded his hands.

The knives flew over the heads of the audience and buried themselves in a telephone pole, the torches wound up in a vat of lemonade, the penguins flew into the arms of two children, and the dwarf landed squarely in Kurama's arms.

The 'Quin dusted off his hands, thumbed his nose at Yuusuke, and ran like crazy in the general direction of the roller coasters.

"After him!" bellowed Kuwabara as he took off after him, the others following close on his heels. Kurama was trying to detach the dwarf from his shirt.

Kurama caught up with the rest of them as they reached the roller coasters.

They were in full swing, cars full of screaming tourists whizzing up and down the tracks at frightening speeds.

It didn't scare the Harlequin one bit, and he went up the scaffolding like a squirrel. Yuusuke and the others had little choice but to follow.

The Carnival boasted on all of its posters that it had the biggest and most complex portable roller coaster in the world, and they weren't kidding. There were no loop-the-loops on it, but it had sharp turns and sudden drops aplenty. It had been aptly named "Spaghetti Bowl".

The Harlequin was leading them right into the booming heart of the ride, dodging the rumbling cars with varying degrees of success. Kuwabara's jacket would never be the same again.

They finally managed to corner the Harlequin on the highest point of the structure, the main drop near the start of the course.

"Give it up and come quietly!" Yuusuke shouted.   
No such luck. The Harlequin made a face at him and sprang lightly into the air, cape becoming a pair of wings, and he soared effortlessly away.   
"How'd he do that?" muttered Yuusuke.

A sudden vibration of the scaffolding then told him that they'd better get out of the way in a hurry.

Hiei, however, was too busy watching their quarry get away to notice. "Look out!!"

Hiei spun around in time to see the cars coming toward him and he jumped, but not quite high enough.

Instead of landing behind the cars, he wound up landing in the middle of them as they roared over the tracks.

The rest of the team met him at the exit ramp a few minutes later. Hiei staggered out of the exit, and clung to Kurama for balance.

"Wow," he said as soon as his ears stopped ringing. "I wanna do that one again."   
"Later," Genkai said, heroically not laughing. "We have a clown to catch."   
"Oh, yeah. Let's go!" Hiei took off in the direction that the Harlequin had gone.   
"Sugar high," muttered Kurama. "He's not going to be a happy camper when it wears off. C'mon, let's go."

They found the Harlequin again because of the pie. It whizzed out of the darkness just above the door of the Fun House and hit Genkai right in the face, splattering Yuusuke with whipped cream.

The Harlequin grabbed the lintel and swung inside like an Olympic athlete as Genkai struggled to get the pie out of his eyes, eventually just wiping her face on Kuwabara's ruined jacket.

"Where'd that little bastard get to?!" she demanded.   
"In there," Hiei said, pointing into the garishly colored interior of the Fun House.   
"Crap," She muttered. "I _hate_ fun houses."

Inside the Fun House was a world of darkness, bright colors, and an interior design scheme that would have warmed the heart of M.C. Escher. The Harlequin was waiting for them, balanced on the rail of an inverted bridge, smiling.

"Get him!" Hiei shouted, springing forward with the energy of the terminally sugar-loaded.

The Harlequin, seemingly puzzled at Hiei's attitude, retreated into a padded tubular hall, the team close at his heels.

Hiei made a grab for his cape, but lost his footing when the floor began to move. The hall started to rotate like a sideways tornado, spinning far too fast for comfort.

When they finally got out, they had to lie down until the room stopped turning. Kuwabara was noisily sick behind a misshapen mirror for a few minutes.

"Right," he said once the heaving had stopped. "Remind me to blow this place up at some point."   
"Okay," Genkai replied rather greenly.   
"(Fizz)" was all Yuusuke could contribute at the moment.   
They hauled themselves up off the floor eventually, and peered around the room suspiciously. No sign of the Harlequin.

"There!" Kurama cried, pointing down another hall, where something stripy was clambering up a rope ladder in the next room.

As one, they dashed down the hall and into the next room, only to discover that the designer had forgotten to add a floor into the blueprints. They fell eight feet into a pit of foam rubber chunks, chunks that turned out to be covering a trampoline. It was _very_ difficult getting to the ladder, what with all the bouncing and foam and Hiei flying out of control all over the place.

"What the hell is this?!" he demanded on his way across the room.   
"Trampoline!" Genkai shouted, catching hold if his shirt and bringing him marginally under control. "Gods, but I hate Fun Houses!"   
"Hear, hear!" Kuwabara said, managing to grab the ladder.

With his help, they were able to climb out of the pit. The next room was a long, narrow one that had obviously been decorated by a color-blind madman.

As they ran down it, dozens of panels on the wall popped open, and a multitude of puppets emerged in a spray of confetti and a cacophony of honks, giggles, tweedles and cackles.

The team was in no mood for such idiocy, and smashed their way through, leaving uncountable puppets lying forlornly on the floor.

After that, the trail split three ways, all of them lit by strobe lights, with things moving unpleasantly in the abbreviated glare.

Yuusuke was tired of this. "Rei Gun!" he shouted, and blew a hole clear through the wall.

Fortunately this was an outside wall, and they tumbled out into the calmer dimness of the night. They paused for breath there, picking bits of marionette out of their clothing. 

Just then, a black-and-red shadow flickered out of the Fun House exit and scampered off across the grounds.

"There he goes!" Kurama said, and once again the team lit out after the Harlequin.

They began to falter after a few hundred yards, though, ad came to a wheezing halt by another row of picnic tables.

"Hey guys," Yuusuke said once he had gotten some breath back. "Look over there."   
They looked. Aah, manna from heaven! A beverage stand was doing brisk business right across the road from them.

As one, they converged upon it, and demanded one of everything. With Ice.

"Hey, Kurama," Hiei said, holding up a large paper cup of something brown. "What's this stuff?"   
"Fbrbleb." Kurama replied, nose deep in a lemonade.

"Coke Slurpee," he said when he came up for air.   
"What's it taste like?"   
"Dunno. Never tried one."   
"Good enough for me," Hiei said, and then downed the entire thing in one gulp. His eyes grew very wide after a few moments, and his face brightened strangely. "Oooo."

"Now you've done it," Kuwabara said as Hiei started to fidget. "Coke Slurpees are pure caffeine laced with enough sugar to choke a horse. We're never gonna get him calmed down now."   
"Oh, he'll calm down all right," Genkai said grimly, putting down her empty cup. "Come on. Let's find that psychotic mime and jump up and down on him or something."   
"Or something," Kuwabara said. "I _like_ 'or something'."

It took them half an hour to find the Harlequin again. When they did, he was teaching an eight-year-old girl how to fence with balloon swords. With a shout they were after him again, and the child found herself holding two balloon swords and a small bag of itching powder as she watched the dust cloud recede into the distance.

It was very late now and the crowds had thinned somewhat. This was just as well, with the way the 'Quin was racing through the cramped alleys and byways with the whole Yu Yu Hakusho barreling after him like a runaway elephant.

The Harlequin was annoyed. He had grown rather fond of these yahoos and didn't really mean to give them such a rough time here.

He could feel Yashi's mind crawling around his brain like a swarm of centipedes; a most disturbing feeling. How he hated the Demon King! He knew very well that if he closed with any of his pursuers, he would be forced to kill them.

Keep running, then. Maybe they would get tired and go away. No, no, he wanted them to catch him! He knew they wanted to get the collar off, but if they did manage to grab him he'd either have to blow them up or think very, very hard about wombats. Yashi had never been truly able to comprehend wombats fully, and therein lay a weakness.

The Harlequin smiled as he dodged a flailing Rose Whip. He was very good at exploiting weaknesses. But first-

The Harlequin dodged around a corner, jumped up a flight of steps, and splashed into a low, dark, water-filled tunnel.

There was a yelp behind him as his pursuers flattened the ride operator and a lot of splashing as they chased him down the tunnel, darting around and jumping off the swan-shaped boats.

It was at this point where something untoward happened. Kurama mistimed a jump and landed in a boat right next to one of his classmates from school.

"_Minamino-san!_" she squealed and cuddled up, throwing her arms around his neck.   
"Aaiieee!" Kurama said in return.

Hearing this, Hiei screeched to a halt and about-faced, and quickly found the boat his friend was having trouble with. Leaping onto the prow of the boat, he thrust his head forward into the girl's face.

"Mine!" he snarled, baring sharp fangs.   
The girl screamed and threw herself back against the seat. "Excuse me," Kurama said, polite as ever, and leaped out of the boat.

They caught up with the others a few minutes later. "What took you so long?" Yuusuke said. "Stopped for a bit of romance?"   
"Shut up, Yuusuke," Kurama said.   
"So who kissed who?"   
"_Shut up, Yuusuke!_" growled Hiei.   
"Alright, alright. No need to get grouchy. Hee hee hee!"

They nearly had the Harlequin again when he ducked into another building.

They were halfway through it before they realized just where he had led them. They found out where they were rather quickly when Kuwabara tried to tackle the 'Quin, and wound up in a heap on a floor with a headache. "Aw, no," Yuusuke muttered as strange and distorted images danced around him. "The Hall of Mirrors!"

"He can't hide here if there aren't any," Genkai said and demolished a mirror.   
Everybody started smashing glass with gusto. Each time a black-and-red image darted across a pane, someone would break it.

Before long, though, they started running out of mirrors, and the 'Quin still hadn't been flushed out.

At last, Kuwabara smashed a grinning clownish image, and although the glass went away, the image didn't. As Kuwabara stood there trying to adjust to this, the Harlequin grinned at him and got him right in the face with a water balloon.

There was a great roaring and smashing of glass as the team chased their quarry out of what was left of the Hall of Mirrors. Another wild goof chase through the Carnival ensued, attracting a crowd.

"It's the running of the fools!" someone in the audience shouted.   
"Where?" cried another.   
"They went Hemingway!" Yet another chimed in, pointing in the direction of the chase.   
Then they all ran after, to see what would happen next.   
Our heroes were too wrapped up in what they were doing to notice the crowd running after them, but they did notice where the Harlequin was heading.

"Aw, no!" Kuwabara wailed. "Not the Python!"

Yes, the Python. It and its ilk are known across the worlds by many names; the Octopus, the Constrictor, the Tentacle, the Hydra. There was even a version in the Makai called the Demon-Serpent.

All of them were built on the same lines as this one, and it, too was in full swing, waving and spinning and going roundy-roundy-up 'n' down-and throw up. Kuwabara was already a little green around the gills.

The Harlequin was not fazed by this dramatic display of mechanical confusion, and swung up on one of the arms like a gymnast in a nightmare. Hiei was too hyper to care and jumped up after him, followed by Genkai, Yuusuke and Kurama, all of whom could polka in freefall without breaking a sweat. Kuwabara had to force himself to follow.

The Harlequin was jumping from arm to arm to car back to arm again, dodging the various whips and ropes that four of the team were snapping at him.

It wasn't easy. All the motion and lights, noise and jumping and four people throwing things at him were playing merry hell with his concentration. Hold it. Four? Where was the fifth?

Hiei did not like the Harlequin at all. He tended to do horrible things to people that he didn't like. He felt he owed the Harlequin at least a split spine and a beheading, god or not.

Unfortunately, he had a problem. His eyesight and balance did not seem to be working quite right, and his target was moving in ways that should have been impossible.

Nevertheless, the time for vengeance was now!

With a shriek, Hiei sprang at the Harlequin, intent on doing the aforementioned horrible things. However, the arm that the 'Quin was riding at the moment went up when it should have gone down.

Hiei collided heavily with his target's upper back, sending them both crashing into the dirt.

The others wasted no time in pouncing on the prone god, trussing him up like a Christmas turkey. Hiei climbed onto their captive's back and started bonking the Harlequin on the head with the hilt of his sword.

He was distracted a moment later by the crowd, which had burst into applause.

Kuwabara, still a little green, got up, dusted himself off, and started posturing for the audience. "I, the great Kuwabara Kazuma, have just vanquished the greatest hassle of all time!" He said, and then started to make a speech.

Hiei and Yuusuke looked at each other, agreeing wordlessly that something must be done to deflate this windbag before he exploded on his own.

Hiei got up off the 'Quin's back and clambered up onto Yuusuke's shoulders. They snuck up behind the wildly posturing Kuwabara and started to give him bunny ears and antlers and things while the others looked on as the crowd began to laugh.

The Harlequin, seeing that he was being ignored, calmly untangled himself and started to wander off while thinking deeply about wombats.

Hiei, however, had marvelous peripheral vision. He turned his head just in time to see the Harlequin amble off.

With a shout, he leaped off of Yuusuke's shoulders, rebounded off Kuwabara's head, and tackled the 'Quin with a move that any football player would envy, and started bonking him with his sword again.

The others tied him up again, bowed to their audience, and left, carrying the 'Quin on their shoulders. Once outside the Carnival, certain things had to happen.

Kuwabara had to be sick again in an alley. His poor, abused stomach was having Python flashbacks.

Hiei, however, had it much worse. He tottered suddenly and fell over clutching his head as he learned the hard way about what happens when the sugar high wears off.

"Help, Kurama," he moaned. "I'm dying again!"   
"What's wrong?" Genkai asked.   
"Dunno. I got all tired at once and my head's trying to explode. Or fall off. Whatever. Ow."   
"It's called 'sugar crash'. This is why you don't eat two sticks of cotton candy and wash them down with a Coke Slurpee. It'll wear off eventually."

Hiei's only answer was a whimper as he tried to keep all the pieces of his skull in more or less the same place. Kurama gently picked him up, cradling Hiei in his arms like a baby. He looked up, daring the others to make an issue of it.

"Let's go." He said shortly.

The trip back to the temple was mercifully uneventful. Mind you, this was only in comparison. The Harlequin didn't like being tied up all that much and managed to get confetti down everybody's shirts.   
A very sleepy Yukina opened the door for them as they manhandled their grumpy captive inside and sat him down firmly in the middle of the room.

"How'd it go?" Yukina asked them.   
"Difficult," Genkai said, pulling an old book out of the hidden compartment and flipping through it. "He really didn't want to be caught."   
"I'll make some tea and miso."   
"Bless you, Yukina!" Kuwabara said with feeling. Having throw up twice in one night, he was feeling more than a little empty.   
Yukina blushed happily and left the room.

Genkai found the page she wanted, read the appropriate paragraphs, and peered at the Harlequin. He was sitting quietly cross-legged on the floor, eyes slitted and his face a mask of concentration. She moved closer carefully, tipped his chin up with one finger, and examined the collar.

"Let's see," she murmured. "The symbols are ancient Demonic. It's an outside-assisted binding spell with painful reminder options- ow!"

A mousetrap had been hidden somehow in the book. As Genkai had turned the page, it bit her squarely in the knuckles. She pried it off and glared suspiciously at the Harlequin, but he remained as immobile and straight-faced as a monolith.

"Reflex pranks," she reassured the others. "He's not even paying attention."

Genkai checked her book very carefully for more booby traps. Finding none, she looked up the binding spell on the collar, and how to remove it. "Okay. All we need to do is remove the collar and destroy it." She then took the Harlequin's jaw in a firm grip and tried to find the lock. It took her five minutes, but she managed to locate it, hidden in a particularly swirly design. A few more minutes of peering told her what she needed to know. "Anyone got a lock-pick?" she asked.

They all looked at Kurama, who was still holding Hiei in his arms. "I gave that up years ago," he said in a faintly hurt voice.   
Hiei fumbled around inside his shirt and took out a roll of small, delicate tools. "I didn't," he said.   
Genkai gave him a hard look, but she wasn't complaining. she selected a thin, sharp pick and began carefully poking around in the lock.

The Harlequin was not a happy camper. When you got right down to it, there really wasn't all that much about wombats to comprehend. Yashi was getting really pissed now and was making a real effort to grab control. This was a very nice temple.

He really hoped he wouldn't have to blow it into orbit. What was that old lady doing now? Ah! She had found the lock and was poking around in it with something.

She'd better hurry, because his defenses were starting to crumble. Dammit, he wasn't used to concentrating on just one thing for any length of time; how did these ningens manage to do that anyway? I wonder if they give classes? Never mind. I'd probably flunk on account of weirding out the teacher.

It was probably an inborn trait, although you wouldn't know it to look at that kid with the Rei Gun, or maybe not. Lady, you done picking that lock yet? Yashi's getting really mad out there.

You remind me of a very nice marsupial I was acquainted with once, I- OW! OW! OW! _Oh, crap!_

The Harlequin started to thrash about wildly just as Genkai was getting the hang of picking the lock.

"Hold him!" she shouted, attempting to keep her maddened captive from taking a chunk out of her arm with his teeth.

Everyone tackled him at once, trying to hold him still. With a click, the collar came off and rolled across the floor.

The Harlequin surged upright, snapped the ropes like string and threw them off, along with the people trying to hold him down.

He spat, just once, on the collar, but it sizzled unpleasantly and melted into a blackened lump of unidentifiable moosh.

He smiled unpleasantly, and then turned to face Genkai and the others. They stared uneasily at each other for a few minutes, not quite sure of what to do now.

At that moment, Yukina came in with a steaming teapot and a large tureen of miso.

"Hi there!" She said to a rather surprised Harlequin. "Would you join us for tea and miso?"

The Harlequin gave her a rather weak smile and nodded. Hells, but he hadn't had a day this bad since the last great plague. Miso and tea would be very welcome.

To be continued....

That's the end of chapter nine. I hope you liked it. I can't wait for your reviews! My e-mail address is japbookfan101yahoo.com I'll be waiting for them.


	10. Chapter 10 The Harlequin, part 4

The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho

1. Okay this is my first time writing a Yu Yu Hakusho Fanfiction, so excuse me if it seems a little out of whack. I'm using characters from various Fanfiction and will give the authors credit in the chapters they appear in.

2. This is Koko-chan's and the Blue Spanch's story. Please don't be, mad at me for using it and your characters. If you wish for me to take it off the internet, just e-mail me and I will do so. I've also changed a bit of it, like dividing it. (Just don't kill me please.)

3. This is my story, it is YAOI (meaning male/male relationships for those unused to the anime world.) If you don't like it, don't read it! Got that?

4. I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO!!!! So don't sue me I don't have anything.

5. This occurs after the movie.

6. Thoughts are in _Italics._

On with the story!

Chapter 10

The Harlequin, part 4

The tension decreased visibly during the meal, except perhaps for Yuusuke, who would not take his eyes off of their guest.

Harlequin noticed this right off and stared back. This initiated a staring contest, and Yuusuke had never backed down from a challenge. Yuusuke's eyes were watering badly and starting to cross when Genkai decided to defuse both of them.

"We need to talk," she said.

The Harlequin's face became a mask of cold fury, and his eyes flashed red. The expression was only momentary, which was fortunate. Genkai had nearly wet her pants.

The Harlequin tapped his throat and shook his head sadly, and then finished his tea.

"What's the matter, man?" Yuusuke asked. "Cat got your tongue?"

The Harlequin blew him a raspberry, and then mimed writing. Yukina, helpful as ever, handed him a brush, ink and paper.

"_A cat does not have my tongue, you silly person. The Demon King stole my voice,_" he wrote.   
"That's bad?" asked Kuwabara.   
The Harlequin gave him a disgusted look, and then transferred his gaze to Genkai. "_Let me guess. You never told them about the Curse._"   
"Sorry," she said, contrite. "Slipped my mind."   
"A curse?" Kurama said, puzzled.

"The Harlequin's greatest weapon," Genkai said, sipping her soup. "It's a spell spoken in the original Old Tongue of the Gods. Whoever he speaks the Curse to, dies most unpleasantly in a number of different ways. Sometimes it takes two or three tries in one Cursing, depending on just how mad the 'Quin is at his victim."   
"I've heard about that." Hiei said with some admiration. "Some Nether-Lord or other got a curse of some sort put on him centuries ago. He said he was strong enough to weather a mere ill-wishing, but the next day, his underlings had to scrape his charred bits off the walls and ceiling."   
"_The Lord Suku-Yama. Yes. He was a prime dork, wasn't he? No sense of humor at all._"   
"So," Kuwabara said slowly, trying to work something out. "Why don't you just write the Curse down, fold it into a paper airplane, and throw it at him?"

The Harlequin stared at him for a moment, unable to believe what he had just heard. An object lesson was needed. He tore off a strip of paper and began to write.

It was a spectacularly ugly phrase in a thankfully alien language. It was uglier than a close-up of a scorpion's face, and spewed out more seething hatred than a warehouse full of bigots. Just looking at it invited a rash.   
The Harlequin held the scrap up in two fingers, and a second later it spontaneously combusted.

"Oh," Kuwabara said in a small voice. "I guess that wouldn't work, would it?"   
"Twit ningen," Hiei muttered.   
Kuwabara's face went red at this insult, but his retort fell flat as the ashes from the burning paper dropped into the Harlequin's empty teacup.

The teacup _twisted_ through a number of bizarre dimensions and transformed into a ball of ginger fur the size of a softball.

As they watched, it sprouted four pink, three-toed feet and three beady little black eyes.

"Queep?" It said.

"At this rate, I may have to get a new tea set," Genkai said with remarkable control. "What is that?"   
"_A Norkie,_" The Harlequin wrote.   
"It's adorable!" Yukina cried, picking up the little fluffball and cuddling it. "Can I keep it? Please?"   
"_Go ahead. They eat just about anything, they love being cuddled, and are smarter than they look. I think it would make you an admirable companion._"   
"Oh, thank you!"

Hiei looked as though he were about to object, but kept quiet. The Norkie, as though sensing his disapproval, sprang out of Yukina's arms and landed squarely on Hiei's head.

Purring, it started to comb his hair with its forepaws. Hiei couldn't do anything about it without hurting his sister's feelings, so he just had to stand there and bear it while Yukina giggled.   
Kuwabara felt much better for some reason.   
"Yukina," he said in a strained voice as the Norkie went to work on a tangled tuft of hair, "Would you please get this thing off my head?"   
"Oh, sure! Come here, Norkie!" She scooped the furball off Hiei's head and scampered out of the room.   
Hiei watched her go, and then looked Kuwabara straight in the eye. "Not one word," he said.

"Excuse me." Kuwabara said unevenly, and then ran outside. They probably heard his hysterical laughter in New Zealand.   
Hiei sat down with a thump, face like a storm cloud, and poured himself another cup of tea.   
"You get used to it," Yuusuke said sympathetically. "I have to put up with a mutant penguin, remember?   
"Shut the hell up."

As soon as Kuwabara lurched back inside, Genkai decided to get down to the point. "We need to get your voice back," she told the Harlequin. "Any idea of where he keeps it?"   
"_Oh yes. He's stuck it in the ring he wears on his left hand. The big topaz one. Yashi's got enough protective spells around it to immobilize a pyroclasm, but I think the ring-of-fire trick that I played with that kid Yuusuke, his name was?- would work nicely. After that, Yashi's toast. One way or another._"

Genkai didn't want to speculate on that. "Fine. Do you have a map of the Inner Makai? Roaches ate mine years ago."   
The Harlequin nodded and removed a roll of paper from inside his cape and unrolled it on the table.

It was not a map, however. What it turned out to be was a picture of the entire Yu Yu Hakusho dressed in drag, and revealing drag at that. With a yelp, a red-faced Kuwabara pounced on the picture and tore it to shreds.   
"Really!" Kurama said, reprovingly. "Purple is _not_ my color."   
The Harlequin looked him up and down, and then nodded in agreement as the others looked at Kurama funny.

The 'Quin produced another roll, and this time, it was the map. There were strange symbols and little demon faces marked here and there on it. "What do those mean?" Yuusuke asked.   
"_Party joints, traveling circuses, weak places in the space-time continuum, and the Flying Dutchman Pizza House. I like that place. They have realized that whipped-cream pies are to be thrown, not eaten._"

"Okay, but where's the royal palace?"   
The Harlequin whipped a rubber stamp around in one fist and slammed it into roughly the center of the map. When he lifted the stamp away, the word "BULLSHIT," underlined in scarlet ink, overlay a small, castle-shaped drawing on the map.   
They couldn't help laughing at that one. "That's a novel way of putting it," Genkai said. "This map is accurate?"   
"_Very accurate._"   
"Good. When's a good time to attack this place?"   
"_Any old time. Yashi can't stop me from coming after him anyway, and he's more afraid of me than he is of you guys. He may set up a few booby traps, though, but not to worry. He may be smarter than your average demon, but that still puts him in about the same IQ class as an old sneaker. Unfortunately, tonight is not a good time._"

"How so?" Genkai asked.   
"_Go look in a mirror. You lot look like what's left after a monster truck derby. I'm not going to mount a major assault on a fortress manned by things with more teeth than brain cells until you people are capable of standing upright without professional help._"   
"You've got a point," Kurama said around a face-cracking yawn. "Tomorrow, then?"   
"_That'll do nicely. Oh, you- the Kitsune-_"   
"Kurama."   
"_Yes, sorry; remember to tuck a sprig of spearmint into a pocket before we go. Believe you me, we're going to need it._"   
"Extra weaponry?"   
"_Air freshener. The Inner Makai still hasn't understood the concept of 'plumbing' or 'sewers' quite yet._"

"Eeewww," Yuusuke said.   
"Anything else that we should bring?" Hiei asked.   
"_A first-aid kit. I have a hunch that somebody's going to need a band-aid or two._"   
"That's normal."   
"_Take one along anyway. If anything, we can use the kit to mess up a sentry or something. Now, get yourselves home and to bed before you fall asleep in your miso. I don't work with zombies._"

In a fit of sarcasm, Kuwabara stood up and adopted the "Frankenstein" pose- blank facial expression, stiff posture, arms stuck straight out and hands dangling limply.

"Good night," He intoned, and lurched out.

Yuusuke looked reflexively at his watch, did a double-take when he saw just what time it was, and stood up.

"I'd better get home before Mom mobilizes the entire police force to look for me. See you all tomorrow. Kurama, bring lots of mint," Then he left.   
Kurama batted long eyelashes at Hiei. "Care to join me tonight?" He asked.   
Hiei gave Kurama a disgusted look. "Stupid fox," he muttered and disappeared.   
Kurama gave an amused sigh and turned to Genkai and the Harlequin. "I'll see you two tomorrow. Spearmint, right?"   
"_And lots of it._"   
"All right. 'Bye."

Genkai and the Harlequin sat quietly for a few minutes, savoring the peace and quiet.

"So," Genkai said. "What're you going to do tonight?"   
"_I haven't gotten a proper night's sleep since Yashi nabbed me. I was thinking of curling up in the rafters._"

There was a crash from the next room, and Norkie sped out of the doorway, little pink feet blurring. In a flash, the little critter climbed up the Harlequin's cape and took refuge on top of his head, chittering angrily. Yukina ran out after it, comb in one hand and a set of small curlers in the other.

"What happened?" Genkai asked.   
"I thought he would look cute in curls," Yukina replied.   
Norkie too gave exception to that. He stuck out a bright red tongue and gave her a resounding raspberry.   
"_I don't think he likes curls,_" The Harlequin wrote. "_Just leave his fur the way it is._"   
"Oh, pooh!"   
"_Don't force the issue. If you give him curls, he may very well shave you bald while you sleep. Or give you a mohawk or something._"   
"He wouldn't!" Yukina said, aghast.   
"Queep!" Norkie said. It was very clear he meant: "Try me."   
"Just leave it, Yukina." Genkai said. "Good night."

It was late in the afternoon the next day before everybody made it to the Temple. Yuusuke came in last, having run into some complications on the way.

When he came in, he found Genkai, Yukina, Hinageshi and the others sipping tea and playing "Go Fish" with Norkie. The furball seemed to be winning.

"Hey, Yuusuke," Kuwabara said, looking up from his hand. "What took you so long?"

"Everything," Yuusuke replied, sitting down. "The Principal and the Superintendent got on my case for not being a perfect student, my Mom wanted to know just what's been going on for the past week, Keiko wanted an ice-cream cone, and a bunch of losers from one of the gangs in the Manga district wanted to know why we were chasing clowns on their turf. Speaking of clowns, where's ours?"

Everybody pointed at the ceiling without bothering to look up. Yuusuke searched among the rafters for the Harlequin, and got a nasty shock. He was stretched out comfortably along the underside of the center beam, taking a nap as if a mere reversal of gravity was nothing to get excited about. As Yuusuke stared, the 'Quin opened his eyes, smiled, and waved hello.

After some persuasion, they got Norkie and the two girls to continue their game out on the front porch, and the Harlequin ambled down the wall to join them. They spread out the map again -no silly pictures this time- and began to plan.

"How do you want to go about it?" Kurama asked. "The last time I went anywhere near that deep into the Makai, I lost an old friend. Hiei, have you been there?"   
"Once," Hiei said. "It stank, so I left."   
"You'd know a fair amount, 'Quin," Yuusuke said. "It's your call."

The Harlequin narrowed his eyes in thought for a moment. "_Yuusuke, I know everywhere. The Inner Makai is a wasteland. Even slime molds have trouble growing there, especially around the royal palace. Within the bounds of the castle, you're knee-dep in cranky demons, and eyebrow-deep in the smell of generations of cranky demons. The walls of the palace are fifty feet high, spiked on top surrounded by a moat full of something, I'm not sure what, and manned thirty-six hours a day by hordes of hideous mutants. The Palace itself is loaded wit et more demons and various magical nasty things. The Gates of the palace are sealed at all times with eight different kinds of death-spells, each worse than the last. In short a fairly easy place to get into._"

"Come again?" Kuwabara said, wondering what this wacko considered difficult.   
"_Demons aren't very bright, remember? All those defenses on the walls and they forget about what's up. They're used to ground threats._"   
"You've found a way around it, haven't you?" Yuusuke said.   
"_Your grasp of the obvious is earthshaking. There's a nest of flying serpents right on the border of Inner and Outer Makai. They'll take us anywhere for a bag of Chinese finger-traps. Even right into Yashi's bedroom._"

Kuwabara seemed to be having trouble understanding something. "What would a flying serpent want with a Chinese finger-trap?" He asked. "They don't have hands or anything, do they?"   
"_Think about it._"   
He thought about it. "Oh," Kuwabara said in a small voice.   
"_They tend to go through them rather quickly, what with the scales and all._"   
"Can we change the subject, please?"   
"_You brought it up._"

"So, we fly in and then just barge our way into the throne room?" Genkai asked, heading off further embarrassment.   
"_Why barge when we can sneak? It's a lot safer, quicker, and much more fun that way._"   
"Is fun all you can think about?" Hiei asked in a cold voice.   
"_Fun is why I am, Firebaby. Don't forget that._"   
"I'm assuming you know your way around the demon palace," Genkai cut in, stopping the explosion before it started.

"_Oh, yes. I spent three weeks haunting that place before Yashi was able to snare me. We won't get lost in there, trust me on this one. Shall we go?_"   
"Hold on," Yuusuke said. "Kurama, you got the mint?"   
Kurama pulled out a pillowcase full of heavily-scented herbiage.   
"Good. Who's got the first-aid kit?"   
Kuwabara hauled a small box with a red cross on it out of a backpack.   
"Cool. Let's go."

Kurama stuffed the pillowcase into the backpack with the First-Aid kit, shouldered it, and stood p as the Harlequin made ready to transport them to the Makai. Just before his vision faded, he thought he saw a small ginger blur zip behind him, and felt a slight increase of weight in the backpack.

They materialized on a low bluff on the border, and the first look told them what they needed to know about this place: Inner Makai was a dump. "Yechh!" Genkai said, summing up the whole of the land.

A low whistle attracted their attention. The Harlequin stood a little apart, cape billowing in the sultry breeze.

He beckoned, and started walking off toward a group of lumpy hills. They followed him to an arched cave in the base of one hill. It was cool inside, and smelled reptilian.

Slithering noises could be heard close by. Then, a massive snake, an anaconda with a huge pair of falcon wings rose up in front of them, blocking the passage.

"Halt!" It hissed in a voice like wind in the desert. "Who comessss to the nessst of the Ssserpent Queen?"

The Harlequin stepped forward, bowed politely, and wrote something down on a notepad for the sentry to read. The serpent peered rather shortsightedly at it, forked tongue flickering. 

"Aaah, yesss," it said in a much less hostile voice. "We know you. The Queen will be pleasssed to sssee you again. Your friendssss are welcome assss well. Come thissss way."

The Serpent folded its wings and slithered down the passage, belly scales raising a dry rasping sound from the stone. The passage they traveled down was sinuous, as though someone had taken a natal limestone cave and then accentuated the curves.

They walked through another arched doorway into a vast cavern lit by globes of soft, greenish light, and inside the cavern was the largest legless reptile that any of them ad ever seen before.

The Queen of the Flying Serpents was second only to the world-serpent in sheer bulk, and she wound around and around the sandy floor in massive coils that cradled a multitude of huge, mottled eggs. Her eyes were flame-colored and slit-pupilled, and her wings, even folded, were big enough to hide a bus behind.

"Greetingssss, Harlequin," she said in a voice that echoed around the chamber. "What are you up to thissss time?"

The Harlequin took out his pen and began writing a note for her, but she interrupted.   
"What'sss thisss? Writing? Normally by now, you would have filled my halls with the harmonicsss of your ssspeech, 'Quin." She paused for a moment, considering. "Where is your voice, Harlequin?" The Queen asked suspiciously.

The Harlequin looked almost painfully embarrassed and wrote down something.   
The Serpent Queen began to chuckle, and then to laugh. It sounded like an earthquake and vibrated sand off of the ceiling with the sheer force of it. "My ssstripy friend, even in sssituations like thisss you ssstill are funny." She said when she stopped for breath. "You let Yashi sssteal it? Carelesss, my boy, very carelesss. Now let me guesss. To regain your mellifluousss vocality, you and your budiesss here need a lift into Yashi's palace."   
The Harlequin nodded vigorously.

"It'll cossst you, Harlequin, and not jussst part favorsss this time. The minesss in thisss province are running out. After thisss little essscapade, I would appreciate it if the minesss were to sssuddenly come acrosss a fresh vein of rubies and jet. In a sssuitably humorousss way, of courssse."   
The Harlequin pretended to fall over in a dead faint, but gave her a thumbs-up anyway.

"Good boy," The Queen said. "There will be ssseveral of my children waiting for you on the launching pad. You know where that isss, asss I recall. Don't forget your promissse, Harlequin, or I will come after you persssonally."

The Harlequin got up and bowed to the Queen, and turned to go. As the others followed him out, the Queen poked her snout at Hiei and Kurama. "Ssstop mooning around and get on with it, you two," She whispered. "All thisss noble ssself-denial isssn't good for either of you. Moderation isss for monks."

Hiei and Kurama looked at each other, startled. The Queen chuckled. "I may be a reptile, but certain thingsss I can underssstand very well. Get moving."   
"Yes, Ma'am!" Kurama said, and they both hurried to catch up with the others.

Kuwabara was having trouble understanding things again. "Look, 'Quin," He said. "If you're really this powerful god, how come you let a big snake boss you around like that?"   
The Harlequin smiled tolerantly and started to write. "_I may be considerably older and more powerful than the Queen is, but I didn't spend the last four thousand years founding a very influential race and devouring my enemies whole all by myself. Besides, not only is she letting us bypass some of the worst real estate in existence, but would you smart off to a poisonous snake that large?_"   
"You've got a point."

The launching platform was in actuality a cliff. Six huge bat-winged vipers waited for them at the edge, tongues flickering impatiently.

At Genkai's suggestion, Kurama got out the spearmint. It was to be a long flight, and a smelly one. As Kurama lifted the spearmint out of the backpack, he found out that Norkie had stowed away at the last moment after all.

Before he could speak, the little furball raised a finger to where his lips should be. "Shhhh."

Kurama smiled. He was willing to let Norkie take part in this adventure. There was no way to send him back anyway, plus they would probably need all the help they could get.

Without saying anything, he handed out bunches of mint to the others. With some difficulty, they climbed astride their serpents and held on tight as they sprang off the cliff.

For one heart-stopping moment, it seemed like thy would splatter into the jagged rocks at the base of the cliff, and then six pairs of oversized bat wings opened, sending them into an easy glide.

The Harlequin hadn't been kidding when he called the Inner Makai a wasteland. It was a morass of gray and brown, mostly quagmire and rocky places, and what had probably been forests once glowed sickly with phosphorescent fungus.

The stink of it all was strong even up here, though the mint helped considerably.

Some time later, a new feature appeared on the landscape. Immense scarlet markings covering miles of territory lay over the low hills and swamps. There was something strangely familiar about those markings... "Wow," Yuusuke said. "I didn't know you could make graffiti that big!"   
He was right. Somebody had written and underlined the word "BULLSHIT" on the Inner Makai in great big blocky letters.

Kurama stared in amazement at the Harlequin. "Just what kind of map was that?"   
"An accurate one!" Kuwabara howled, and then started laughing.   
The Harlequin just grinned.

The palace itself was quite imposing, especially the Moat Full of Something, I Don't Know What. Whatever it was, it was attempting to eat the walls.

They saw the demons all over the place, and what they were doing down there was more than a little unsettling.

"Looks like they're training for an invasion," Genkai remarked. "I think they were due to come in after the Harlequin had taken care of us."   
"I don't wanna think about that," Yuusuke said.

The Serpents let them off in an old tower, a room that had obviously not been used for several decades. Hiei inspected the lock carefully, then stepped back and shook his head.

"It's rusted into a solid lump in there. Nothing short of one of your ningen jackhammers will get it open."

The Harlequin then stepped forward, buried his fingers up to the knuckle in the door, and then pulled sharply. It turned out that the hinges were rusted through as well.

With a groan, the whole door came out of the wall and disintegrated into a pile of dry rot. Hiei glared at the 'Quin for a moment, and then walked off down the hall muttering to himself.

They looked at the 'Quin, who shrugged, and then spun around as a commotion erupted from down the hall. Hiei came running back with a horde of unpleasant-looking monsters hot on his heels. The fight was short and ugly, but it got the job done.

They started out again, but this time the Harlequin was in the lead. Unfortunately, he insisted on traveling in an exaggerated crouch, one cloaked elbow half covering his face. They did have to admit it, though; the 'Quin skulked with _style_.

The trip to the throne room was fairly uneventful, if you don't count the ambushes they kept springing on the sentries- Kurama swore that he could sense their youki from miles away- and disarming most of the magical booby traps that Yashi had laid for them.

They did miss a couple. Genkai sprung a tripwire or something that summoned something _awful_ from another dimension. It blew into the hallway in a fetid windstorm, waving claws and tentacles and eyeballs everywhere, bellowing like a foghorn in serious trouble.

It took a quarter-hour to kill, and by that time it had chewed messily on Genkai, Yuusuke and the Harlequin. The first-aid kit came in very handy here. Disinfectant and large band-aids are very useful in aftermaths like that. The Harlequin didn't bother. He just turned into a can opener and back, wounds gone.

The second trap they missed was a mess of freakish illusions, monsters and memories of the past and the future come to devour their souls. Just one problem.

Apparitions don't work very well when mystical itching-powder grenades go off in their shorts. It just ruins their concentration.

All this noise and commotion had, of course, alerted the master of the castle to their presence, so as they neared the throne room, they found themselves neck deep in monsters.

Finally, Kuwabara went ballistic. One freakish mutant stepped on his foot, and that was it. Kuwabara went through twenty of them like a baloney-slicer on "high", and then stood in the middle of the hall, extremely peeved, breathing like a bellows, and splashed with everyone else's gore.

His teammates applauded him from a safe distance. Even Hiei was impressed. He'd been busy finishing off three of the horrors when it happened, and was slightly disappointed that he hadn't had a chance to play lawnmower with Kuwabara.

"You'll get your turn," Kurama said, guessing his thoughts.

By the time they reached the throne room, they'd all had their turns. They paused outside the closed doors of the Great Hall to formulate a fast plan.

"Okay," Yuusuke said, slightly out of breath from blowing a troupe of demons right out of a window. "You guys distract Yashi, 'Quin and I do the Ring of Fire when he's not looking, and then 'Quin says his curse. We watch Yashi blow up, we clear out of here, we go home and pass out. Cool?"   
"Short and sweet," Kuwabara said. "I like it."

"So how're we going to get these doors open?" Genkai asked. "Stone doesn't rot, and these don't have a lock.   
The Harlequin handed her his pen. It felt strange, and it had a feeling of _depth_ to it that raised the hairs on her arm. She looked sharply at the Harlequin.

"I think I've seen this trick before," she said, and started drawing on the doors. She drew her own door- a plain rectangular thing with a simple doorknob.

"Imported cartoons do silly things with reality, don't they?" She said, grasping the doorknob and opening the door that she'd drawn.   
The Harlequin nodded rather smugly and bowed her through the entrance.

Lord Yashi, King of the Inner Makai, was sitting calmly on his throne in the Great Hall as they came in. "I wondered when you'd get here," he said softly.   
"Sorry," Yuusuke said, smart-mouthed as ever. "Train was slow today."   
"It makes no difference," Yashi said, rising to his feet and coming a few steps toward them. He had prepared himself for this fight, donning armor of steely dragonbone and a long, black-bladed katana that shone like the heart of a black hole. "Death pays no attention to time," he said, and then the floor blew up.

The paving stones cracked and tilted under their feet like rotten ice, and fountains of blue fire erupted from underneath, turning the room from cool to searing in seconds.

Yashi hurled himself at them, sword raised, screaming an arcane war cry. Yuusuke and the Harlequin ran off to one side as the others scattered and started to counterattack.

Kuwabara engaged briefly in swordplay with the Demon King, but was quickly beaten aside.

Kurama saved his life by tripping Yashi up with his Rose Whip. With a howl of fury, Yashi turned on Kurama, showering him with shards of blue flame.

Genkai threw up a shield just in time, and the Harlequin riddled Yashi's armor from shoulder to knee with a brace of razor cards.

By this time, Kuwabara had hauled himself to his feet and was battering away at their foe again, who also received a Rei Gun blast to the back of the head.

Hiei, who had just gotten the hang of all this fire that was being thrown about, channeled it back at its master. In all this assault and battery, Yashi's armor had started to chip.

With Hiei's fire-darts, the gauntlet on his left hand cracked open just enough to reveal the yellow spark of a large topaz ring.

"That's it!" Yuusuke hollered.   
The Harlequin started juggling fireballs, and Yuusuke added a Rei Gun blast to the mix. The Ring of Fire flared high and bright, lighting up the Hall and sending lightning bolts streaking everywhere.

Busy with the others as he was, Yashi could not fail to notice what the Harlequin was doing.

He threw up a shield just in time as the Harlequin released the released the blast at him. It drove him to his knees, but the shield held. They tried two more times, but each time Yashi blocked them.

The Harlequin looked anxiously at Yuusuke, who was beginning to falter. The Harlequin could juggle all the fireballs he wanted from now until doomsday, but Yuusuke's resources were finite.

"I've only got enough for one more blast," The teenager panted.

Just then, Kurama discovered that he had a spring of spearmint hanging on inside his shirt. He pulled it out and worked his plant-magic on it. Spearmint is a ferociously invasive weed anyway, but now...!

The floor became a thicket of eight-foot green spears that thrust themselves at Yashi, grating against his armor, seeking the chinks in his defenses, and drawing blood where they found them.

Yashi shrieked like a disenfranchised banshee and started blasting the mint, filling the air with incense-like fumes. Plants don't feel pain, and Kurama kept them going.

Hiei landed on Yashi's shoulders and began to chop furiously at his helmet, intent on removing the Demon-King's head.

Yashi lost his temper right about then. He wrapped his arms around himself and let fly with a blast of force that flash-fried everything in the room and hurled his enemies back against the walls, stunning them.

Kurama collapsed against the doors, knocked senseless. His backpack, charred and slipping off his shoulders, opened to let something small and furry out.

Norkie peered around at the wreckage of the Hall, and his eyes locked on Yashi, who was gasping for breath and trying to figure out just how many years he would spend killing these invaders.

Norkie decided to take the matter into his own paws, and became a blur, skittering towards Yashi over the cracked stones, and mint fragments toward his foe. In a flash, he scrambled up Yashi's front and grabbed hold of his eyebrows, fixing the startled demon with a beady-eyed triple glare.

Yashi was then privileged to find out just what was under all that ginger fluff; it was teeth. Lots and lots of small, sharp teeth. Norkie gave him a fiendish grin and fastened every single fang he had firmly onto Yashi's nose.

Yashi howled in surprise and pain, giving the Harlequin the opening that he needed. He sprang to his feet and began juggling flame again as the Demon King struggled to get a ferociously growling Norkie off his face. Yuusuke braced himself and gave the last of his spiritual energy to the Harlequin's blazing wheel as Norkie clawed at Yashi's eyes. The Harlequin leveled and fired the spitting beam just as Yashi managed to yank the small strange fury thing off of his nose and hurl it across the room.

The beam splashed against his unguarded hand, vaporizing the ring and most of the hand as well. The Demon King shrieked again in agony, clutching his maimed hand, and gaped in terror at the Harlequin, who had begun to laugh out loud for the first time in years.

It was not a nice laugh. There were harmonics in it that chilled the blood; the mad, screaming laughter of the terminally demented, evil giggles of imps, the wicket glee of mischievous children, ugly rending sounds, and behind the whole blend of chilling noises, someone was playing "Night on Bald Mountain".

The laughter bounced off the walls and echoed around the room, rising to a crescendo that caused the foundations to crack. The Harlequin stood up straight and expanded to more than twice his height so that he towered over his former master, who cringed away.

"You were right, Yashi," The Harlequin said in a voice that made the floor shake. "Death pays no attention to time."

He then raised his face to the heavens and started to chant in an ancient, hideous language that turned the air unpleasant colors and made the walls crack. "No!" wailed Yashi as the murky air congealed and sputtered above him. "No!"

The roiling murk opened and a block of Spam that must have weighed three tons fell through and landed on him.   
"Spam?!" Hiei exclaimed. "Mere lunch meat won't stop him."   
"I know," The Harlequin said calmly as the mass of putrid pink began to smolder. "I'm very angry with him, so I'm taking my time."

The Spam exploded, and Yashi, maddened to the point of frothing at the mouth, rushed them, howling like a rabid dog.

A pit opened up under his feet and he dropped away, landing in something with a splash.

"The moat, of course, runs through the basement of the castle itself," The Harlequin continued, returning to his normal size. "There is a monster in the moat, a creature that one of his predecessors created during a hangover. There's only one of it, and it's not happy about that."

"So I see," Genkai said, watching the bottom of the pit with much interest.   
"Urgh," Kurama said, sneaking a peek.   
"Wow," Yuusuke remarked, following suit.   
"Yukk," Kuwabara added.   
"Feh," Norkie said.   
"Back!" Hiei shouted, grabbing Kurama by the shirt and hauling.

The was an explosive thump from below, and a column of greasy flame boiled upward as the others scrambled away from the opening. A rather slimy Yashi rose from the depths like a bad lunch and snarled at them.

"You haven't won yet, clown!" He shrieked. "You may kill me in the end, but you will join me in Hell!"

He raised his arms and began to speak in the same awful language that the Harlequin had used, but stopped short, a shocked look on his face.

"Too late, worms-for-brains," The Harlequin said as Yashi's skin began to darken and crinkle alarmingly.

An inferno began to show itself under the Demon King's armor, blazing out of his eyes and mouth in a sooty flare. The ground began to tremble and grow hot. Something deep in the earth shattered with a noise that was heard across the three worlds and a massive earthquake struck right under them.

Once again the floor erupted, but not with the weird blue of sorcerous flame; this was the thick, red-black, sulphurous glare of an old volcano. The air began to reek of brimstone as Yashi became a pillar of fire that blasted the ceiling away.

The others crowded around the Harlequin instinctively for protection as he produced a red-and-black umbrella and opened it above them. The rumbling under their feet grew intense, even urgent, and finally the whole foundation lifted away in an explosion that shattered the sound barrier and lifted the castle into orbit in chunks.

Our heroes rode out the storm in a bubble of force that protected them from the fury outside. Light as a feather, they floated up and away from the volcano, which was pouring seas of magma all over the Inner Makai. "Continental volcanoes are something of a rarity, but they are extremely powerful," The Harlequin said in a voice that reminded Yuusuke of his Geology teacher. "The stresses are slow, but immense. The original Demon King wished to harness this power, so he sat the throne right over the mouth of the sleeping fire-giant and tied the Kingship into it with a certain forbidden spell that transfers the power into the ruler, thus keeping the volcano quiescent. As you can see, my children, having power is one thing, but controlling it is another. The secret of controlling the volcano died with its originator, and, frankly, if Yashi had truly known what he was sitting on, he might have been able to stop me. As it was, he is now a whiff of carbonized hydrogen. As he stank before, he is a stink now."

"You mean, you set off the volcano right under him?" Yuusuke asked, stunned.   
"No, I set him off. Old worms-for-brains got mad enough to try a counter-curse, and for that he needed the strength of the volcano behind him. Quiz time, children! What happens when you take the lid off of ten thousand years worth of volcanic pressure?"   
"Wow," Hiei said, eyes glowing, smiling slightly.   
"Will the volcano swamp all the Makai?" Kurama asked worriedly. "There are some places there that mean a lot to me."   
"Nope, just the inner part. It'll stop a mile from the border. In a few years, the whole place will be green again. Just the thing for a nice garden, volcanic ash is."   
"Speaking of gardens," Kurama said, glaring at the Harlequin. "Mom was furious about what you did to it."   
"I'm sorry about that. I can fix it, if you like."   
Kurama considered the offer, and then wondered just what a garden tended by the God of Chaotic Silly would be like. "Never mind, I'll take care of it," Kurama said.   
"Suit yourself."

Kuwabara yawned and stretched, his back making alarming crunching noises. "Heck with gardens," He muttered. "I could do with a bath and something to eat."   
"Hear, hear," Genkai seconded, brushing charred Spam bits off her shirt.   
"That, at least, I can arrange," The Harlequin said, and transported them... elsewhere.

It was definitely an island, and a tropical one at that. The sunset was that special orange-magenta mix that you only get near the equator, and seagulls soared easily in the salt-sea breeze.

The Yu Yu Hakusho had abandoned all dignity and had headed for the beach on arrival. Even Hiei had been persuaded to stay in the warm sea water after Kurama had thrown him back in only twice.

He consoled himself by sneaking up on Kurama and splashing him like crazy every chance he got.

By the time they were clean, they all were very hungry, so the 'Quin treated them to a regional delicacy: Shark.

He swam out and wrestled it to shore just for them. Roasted on the beach and served with fruit from the island, it wasn't half-bad.

Then, after a quick game of "Hunt the Coconut", they wandered off and passed out wherever the ground wasn't too lumpy. It was probably notable that Kurama and Hiei wandered off together, but the others were too tired to notice.

In the morning, the Harlequin transported them back to their home turf, said goodbye, and left to keep his promise to the Serpent Queen. On his way out, though, he made a promise of his own to them.

"I owe you guys for your help in this," he said, calliope music dancing around behind his voice. "If you guys ever need the aid of someone who puts his brain on backwards every morning, don't hesitate to call me."

Yuusuke, Kurama, Hiei, Kuwabara and Genkai settled back into their daily routines with sighs of deep relief. It wasn't until a few days later when the side effects of their jaunt into the Unreal began to manifest themselves. "It's weird," Kurama said when they all met in the park for a chat. "One of my rosebushes has been blooming blue, and petunias simply will not grow in my garden anymore."   
"I'll say," Kuwabara said. "One of the gangs in the Manga district have started doing clown worship. They've been spray-painting clown faces all over that old basketball court."   
"My history teacher's developed a sense of humor," Yuusuke said.   
The others considered that. They had all met Mr. Takaeda at a school bake sale once; he had been the most boring, stuffy, and monotonous man in existence. Not any more, apparently.   
"One of my candles burns with a red and black flame," Genkai said. "Anything to add, Hiei?"   
Hiei glared at her. "No."   
"Sorry."

"He does leave his mark, doesn't he?" Yuusuke said. "I don't think we'll be able to forget him in a hurry."   
"No matter how much we might want to," Genkai said with a smile. "Well, I have to go. The wards around the temple need to be recharged. See ya."   
"Bye," the others said as she walked off.   
"Hey, fellas," Kuwabara said, remembering something. "There's that new video game at the Arcade; I think they just got it set up. Wanna go check it out?"   
"Sure!" Yuusuke said, brightening up. "Care to come, you two?" He asked Hiei and Kurama.   
"Okay," Kurama said. Hiei just shrugged.

As Kuwabara and Yuusuke trotted eagerly off, a messenger came up to Kurama and Hiei. "Are you Minamino Shuuichi?" He asked.   
"That's me," Kurama said.   
"Message for you, sir," The messenger handed a small roll of paper to Kurama, received a tip, and left.   
"Now, who would have sent this?" Kurama murmured as he unrolled the paper and read it. "Eeep!" He said.   
"What's it say?" Hiei asked, seeing the stricken expression on Kurama's face.   
Rather shakily, Kurama read the letter aloud.

Dear Kurama and Hiei,

Good work, you two, and keep it up! I told you that you would be happier together than apart. Write to me when the children are born; since one of you is a Koorime, I will expect you to have at least two. Don't disappoint me, kids. Call me if you need a babysitter.

All the best,

Lillias, Queen of the Flying Serpents

"Eeep!" Hiei said, with feeling.   
"Hey!" Yuusuke shouted rom the edge of the park. "You guys coming or what?"   
Kurama gave Hiei a meaningful look, stuffed the Queen's message in a pocket, and both he and Hiei ran to catch up.

The Arcade's new game was a street-fighter type- a top of the line thing with snazzy graphics and impressive attacks. Kuwabara had to bully several people before he and the others could get a turn.

Everything went fine up until the character select mode, when they spotted something among the ranks.

One of the characters was tall, stripey, clownish and agile, with large topaz eyes and a permanent smile. They stared at it for a long moment in stunned amazement.

"_HOWL!!_" Hiei cried, drawing his sword and attacking the game with it. He managed to carve a rather attractive design in it before the others were able to pull him away and calm him down with a bottle of beer.

After that, he was too mellow to complain all that much. That didn't stop him from spending a half-hour on the machine kicking the Harlequin's butt with his ninja, however.

To be continued....

That's the end of chapter ten. I hope you liked it. I can't wait for your reviews! My e-mail address is japbookfan101hotmail.com I'll be waiting for them.


	11. Chapter 11 Fuzzball's Revenge

Hi! I'm Yo-ma! I'm using characters from various Fanfiction and will give the authors credit in the chapters they appear in. The next few chapters will introduce some characters from Koko-chan and the Blue Spanch. Please don't get angry with me for using your characters. If you want me to take the story off of , please tell me.

This is my story; it is YAOI (meaning male/male relationships for those unused to the anime world.) If you don't like it, don't read it! Got that?

I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO!!! So don't sue me I don't have anything.

This occurs after the movies and ovas.

Thoughts are in Italics.

Please Read and Review! I would love to hear anything you have to say! Flames are even accepted!

On with the story!

The Reikai Tantei's Yu Yu Hakusho

Chapter 11 Fuzzball's Revenge

Lord Yomi of the Makai sat back comfortably, sated, watching the trembling wreck of the young youko that lay dripping blood and tears on the silk sheets.

He leaned forward to look into the wide lavender eyes of his victim. They were glazed, unfocused, and dead. Yomi sighed, vaguely disappointed. The young ones were the sweetest, but they broke so easily. This little squirrel had broken after only one week.

Feeling the urge for a glass of wine and a snack, he rose and donned a dressing gown of deep red silk embroidered with black roses.

As he left the room, he turned and spoke to the Oni guard that stood outside the door. "I'm finished with that one," he said. "Dispose of it in the usual manner."

"Yes, my lord," The guard replied tonelessly, bowing.

Yomi ambled off, cheerfully humming a bawdy ballad under his breath.

The moa stumbled awkwardly in a pothole, causing Hiei to curse and Norkie to queep reprovingly at the clumsy bird.

Hiei glared sourly at the little ginger fur ball. It was bad enough that Kurama had let it come, but did it absolutely have to ride on his bird? All right, so the little monster was handy to have around when the time came to rob a treasure room, but it still played with his hair every chance it got. What was this attraction that he held for small furry things?

"Oh, be nice," Kurama said, noticing that his lover was grumpy again. "If Norkie hadn't disabled those alarms and booby traps for us, we wouldn't have gotten nearly as much loot."

Kurama patted the bulging saddlebags. It had been an unusually good heist. They had come away with so many goodies that the moas could barely carry it all.

Even though he inhabited a human body most of the time, he was still a Kitsune, and thieving was in his very nature. For Hiei, it had been a successful survival tactic ever since very early childhood. Hiei was still not entirely happy about their newest partner in crime.

"Fine, you carry him." Hiei tossed Norkie expertly into Kurama's lap, causing the fur ball to queep furiously at him and treat him to an expert raspberry. Kurama chuckled softly as Norkie smoothed his ruffled fur.

"Let's get going. The city's not too far now and there's a fence who wants to see us."

Hiei's face darkened. "That's Yomi's place," he said. "I don't like going there, and you shouldn't either. Just how long has that pervert been after you?"

"Too long, but hey, his city has the best places to sell stolen goods. Whoa!"

Kurama's moa bucked and shied wildly, smelling death. He managed to get the bird back under control and dismounted, tying the reins to a handy bush. He found the cause quickly.

The naked body of a young squirrel-spirit lay crumpled in a ditch, and the poor thing had not died easily. "Screwed over and throat cut," Hiei said grimly, turning the body over. "One of Yomi's, I think."

"Snf... Queep," Norkie said, triple eyes brimming with tears.

"Come on," Kurama sighed, standing up. "There's nothing we can do now."

"Fzz!" Norkie hissed, and scampered off.

"What's the fur ball up to?" Hiei asked.

Norkie came back, rolling a stone. As they watched, he pushed it next to the body and went back for another. "He's building a cairn," Kurama said, moving forward to help.

Hiei grunted disapprovingly, but helped nonetheless.

Once the body was covered and a few appropriate prayers had been muttered, they continued on their way. Norkie was silent and still for the rest of the trip, bristling with suppressed anger.

They passed a statue of Yomi on their way through the gates of the city, which Norkie favored with a five-star Bronx cheer. "THBBBBBTTTTT!!!"

Both Kurama and Hiei had a hard time keeping their faces straight as the Oni watchman standing nearby jumped at the noise and peered around suspiciously.

"Stupid fuzz ball," Hiei muttered when they were out of earshot.

"Queep!"

They found the purveyor of stolen goods disguised as an ordinary jewelry shop and goldsmiths. A few minutes of sign and countersign with the woman behind the counter got them into the back room to talk to the head man himself.

The fence, a long-boned, cadaverous demon with the bearing of an elderly weasel was sitting at a cluttered desk, grading pearls.

"Yes?" He asked, looking up and putting the pearls aside.

Kurama wordlessly emptied their saddlebags onto the desk.

"Quite a haul," The demon said, picking up a heavy gold ring. "You are either extremely lucky, extremely good, or the one you robbed so thoroughly was criminally negligent."

He paused as Norkie hauled himself up onto the desk. "Ah. That explains it. Handy little things, aren't they?"

"Oh, yes!" Kurama said with a smile, stroking Norkie's ginger fur.

They got down to some serious haggling at that point, leaving Norkie to his own thoughts.

Norkie had no real interest in treasure or the arguments that people had over it; Norkies liked solving tricky problems and exploring new places. Bored, he started whoofing through the clutter on the fence's desk.

The fence laid a beautifully chased and engraved dagger on the desk and crossed his bony arms.

"Three hundred fifty and that's my final offer."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Kurama sputtered. "You mark these things up three hundred percent anyway. How would you like it if I just found another...?"

"Queep!"

Norkie had found a treasure. It was a tiny katana, small enough to fit his three-fingered forepaw, with the beautiful ripples in the blade that spoke of its Damascus-style forging.

The fence smiled indulgently. "You like that, little one?"

"Queep!"

"That's a Sprite's sword, the finest rye ever seen. The smith who forged it used the star-metal of a meteorite that had fallen into a sacred well. One might say that it is out of this world."

Norkie queeped again and spat a star opal out onto the desk. The fence looked surprised for a moment, and then examined the stone. "A fair trade. The sword is yours."

"Queep!" Norkie struck an impressive ninja-like pose, tiny sword raised as if to slash an invisible enemy. This is very hard to do when you're the same general size and shape as a furry softball.

"Stupid fur ball," Hiei said. "Where are you going to find an enemy your own size?"

"Fizz! Yah!" Norkie said, swinging the sword about and ignoring Hiei entirely.

The negotiations continued briskly, although there was one brief interruption when Norkie mock-sparred with a particularly grotesque statuette of one of the demon gods.

Later that evening, Kurama reclined on the bed in the hotel room which they had rented with their slightly less ill-gotten gains, watching Norkie practice with the Sprite sword.

Hiei sat in a chair, cleaning and sharpening his own blade. "He's pretty good with that, for a beginner," Hiei said, glancing at Kurama.

"Well, the Harlequin did say that they learn fast," Kurama said, watching as the militant fuzz ball stealthily snuck up on a bust of the city's ruler. "Don't forget that he's been watching you fight for some time."

"Fizz! Yah!" Ching-zipp-zash-whacka-whacka! Clunk-clunk-clunkitty-clunk.

The bust was suddenly divested of eyes, horns, ears, nose, and most of the hair. The word "Putz" had been carved into the forehead.

"Queep!" Norkie ignored their startled gaze, trotted over to Hiei, and borrowed his whetstone.

"A ninja Norkie?" Kurama wondered aloud.

"What the hell? A guard with his tendons cut is better than a guard who's jumping up and down on you," Hiei said.

"Queep!"

Ninja Norkie awoke at moonrise, picked up his sword, and inspected his traveling companions for signs of consciousness. No, both of them were fast asleep, curled up together in a heart- warming embrace.

Good. Silently he hopped up to the windowsill and clambered onto the roof. Yomi's palace loomed gargoyle-like over the sprawling city. Somewhere in that building laid his objective and tonight was his only opportunity to achieve it.

The blood of innocents cried out for vengeance, and Ninja Norkie would claim it for them. For the squirrel-spirit under the roadside cairn and for all the others who fell before her.

He queeped quietly and scampered off across the roof tops.

His journey was long, but not hard. Yomi's city had quite an active night life, and moas and carts rumbled through the streets without pause.

An enterprising Ninja Norkie could find free rides aplenty in a place like this. Getting into the palace was another matter. It was thickly walled, and the gates were heavily guarded; it had been built to keep out enemy hosts, no matter their size.

They hadn't built them to keep out very small ones, however. Ninja Norkie found enough hand and footholds in the rough blocks to climb up, and there was an old mulberry tree on the other side which furnished him with a way down.

Getting into the castle proper was no major hassle either. A rat hole in the stables led him to the kitchens, where some Oni cooks were stirring up a pot of stew for their evening meal.

"Will our Lord and Master be entertaining himself tonight again?" One said, getting out some earthenware bowls.

"Nah. The new boy's come down with some sort of sickness," Said another, taking the stew off the fire.

"How'd he manage that?" The third one said, pouring dark beer into three tall mugs.

"Probably ate some of those berries off the wisteria vine growing outside the window," The first one replied. "You know that they're poisonous."

"So, what's Yomi going to do tonight?" The second one asked, slicing some bread.

"He's sulking in the top of the tower again. You know how he gets when there's a full moon out. He likes to sleep in a room with stained-glass windows for that," The third cook replied.

"Yeah," Number two said. "I seen those windows in the tower. He would like them."

Ninja Norkie was very pleased at his good fortune. He let the three cooks get into their meal before he ran for the door. He found his way to the tower by listening to more such conversations, and by the simple expedient of climbing every staircase he came across.

He was quite out of breath when he reached the top of the long spiral staircase in the tower, so he spent a few minutes catching his breath and examining the door. The wood was thick, but old, and there was a small gap by the bottom hinge. It was the work of but a moment to enlarge the gap just enough to allow him through.

He dropped down onto a soft thick carpet that was patterned with the silver-pastel glow of bright moonlight shining through the stained glass windows set in the walls and ceiling.

A massive four-poster bed stood prominently in the center of the room. A closer look revealed Yomi, stretched out in the center of it with the sheets all kicked down around the foot of the bed.

Yomi himself didn't need any more revealing, as he was butt naked and fast asleep. Norkie offered a silent prayer of thanksgiving to any deities that might be peeved at this guy as he watched the patches of multicolored light slide over Yomi's chest and belly. This was just too good to be a coincidence. Well, to work!

The light of the full moon always made Yomi feel a little strange; it gave him odd urges and odder dreams, but it was strangely exhilarating.

He always wanted to walk around naked in the garden or something. Since this would have led to considerable embarrassment, he consoled himself by coming up here with something young and juicy. Unfortunately, this time the aforementioned something was very ill. Yomi may be a perverted sicko, but he didn't want to catch anything off of anyone. Being unwell was so dull.

He'd come up here anyway, for he enjoyed the play of moonlight through skillfully worked glass. Moonlight also had another strange effect on him. It made him sleep lightly but deeply, with some strange and astonishingly vivid dreams.

Right now, he was dreaming that a nest of vines was coiling tenderly around him while a beautiful wood nymph looked on in sensual expectation...

The scene began to change, as it sometimes did. The nymph disappeared and the nest of vines became his own four-poster bed-- much more comfortable!

He seemed to be held spread-eagled in the studded leather restraints that were specially built into the posts as part of the design, and someone had stuffed a rolled-up sock into his mouth.

__

Hey, wow! Yomi thought dreamily._ I haven't been in this position since my Uncle taught me the tricks of the trade when I was a teenager! What a nice change._

He drew in a quick breath as something small with sharp toenails, maybe a rat, trotted up his left leg. He raised his head to get a look at it. A small ball of ginger fur with three beady black eyes was sitting on his stomach, watching him. A Norkie?

Norkies were rather rare around here, sticking to forested places for the most part and shunning civilization. _I've never done it with one of these. What a strange dream!_

Ninja Norkie gave Yomi a slow grin, baring row after row of small sharp teeth.

With a flourish, he drew the Sprite sword and held it up so that the colored light played lovingly over the Damascene ripples in the metal of the blade.

Yomi's eyes brightened. Such a beautiful little knife! It flickered in the moonlight, once, twice, three times, drawing three tiny cuts on Yomi's breastbone. How delicately sharp the little sword is!

Yomi did not feel the blade as it sliced, but felt the sick soreness of a razor cut a few seconds after.

Ninja Norkie gave him another, far more evil grin and trotted off towards Yomi's nether regions. _Oh, wow. This will be really something!_

The sock was quite effective in muffling his screams.

Kurama was having a terrible time trying to wake Norkie up. The little fellow's fur was all rumpled from hard sleeping.

"C'mon, little buddy. Time to go for breakfast. Rise and shine!"

"Queep," Norkie said sleepily. The obvious translation was: "Sink and rust."

"What's with him?" Hiei asked. "It's usually him that tries to get us up."

"I don't know."

Norkie sat up, stretched and revealed every fang he had in a huge yawn. He then grabbed his sword and crawled into Kurama's jacket pocket. Faint, fuzzy snores emanated from there a moment later.

Kurama shrugged and they packed up their belongings and went to see about breakfast.

The little breakfast place they went to was packed full, and strangely cheerful. "What's all this about?" Kurama wondered.

His question was answered when a boisterous group of cat-spirits sat down at the table next to them. "Did you hear what happened to Yomi?"

One of them giggled to the others. "It's too much!"

"Oh tell us, tell us!" The others chorused.

"It's all over town!" The first one said. "Yomi finally found someone that couldn't be screwed! The servants at the castle found him in his tower room this morning- tied to the bed and gagged with one of his own socks! But that's not all. Get this- Someone had castrated him!"

The Cats erupted in giggles as Kurama and Hiei stared at each other, both shocked and pleased.

"Oh, he's still alive, of course; you don't kill a guy like him so easy," The gossip continued.

"But now, he has to find a sorcerer who doesn't totally loathe him who will help him grow back his bits! Unmanned as he is, he can't do it alone."

"Any idea of who did it?" A cat spirit asked.

"No clue, and Yomi wouldn't talk about it to anyone. The work was done with a very small, very sharp knife, though. Plus, they'll have to call in an exterminator. There were a bunch of little paw prints in the blood."

The cat's talk then turned to less interesting things. Kurama and Hiei stared at Norkie, who was sitting on the table munching on Kurama's toast. "Just what were you up to last night?" Kurama said softly.

Norkie turned to him and gave him a slow, toothy grin.

Hiei smiled and ruffled Norkie's fur. "I could get to like this critter," He said, and went back to eating his breakfast.

Yomi stood uncomfortably in front of the throne, waiting for Mukuro to stop laughing. It had been a solid hour since she had started, and she was still going strong.

"You-" She gasped between guffaws. "You are a complete and utter twit. You can't expect to go around carrying on like that without someone deciding to remove the offensive bits! Oh, Gods, I haven't laughed this hard in centuries. Maybe I ought to leave you like this for a few decades, just to teach you some restraint."

"Mukuro, please!" Yomi begged. "My powers have been cut in half by this! I do have a lot of enemies, you know."

"Yeah, I know. I'm lucky that I don't have to worry about this kind of thing. Just give me a little while to research the spells necessary for this kind of undertaking, get the ingredients, the ceremonial robes, that sort of thing."

"How long will that take?"

"Oh, I dunno. Five years or so."

"Mukuro!!!"

"Gonna cut down a bit on the amorous adventures?"

"Well..."

"Well?"

"Aw, come on!"

"That's your bad habit."

"Mukuro! This is no laughing matter!"

"For me, it is. All right, earboy. I'll see what I can do, but it'll cost you."

"Anything!"

"I'll want a service from you, a favor in the future. I also want a picture of you naked."

"What, now?"

"Oh, yes! I shall have it blown up to life-size and framed. 'The Consequences of Lechery', I think I will call it."

"You can't do this to me!" Yomi wailed.

"Sure I can. Do you think you're going to find another sorcerer who won't turn you down flat? Come on, earboy, I've got a photographer waiting in the next room."

"Did you plan this?" Yomi asked suspiciously.

"Of course not," Mukuro sniffed. "I merely knew that it had to happen at some time. Now come, boy! Or face the rest of your life as a eunuch!"

Yomi heaved a defeated sigh. "Yes, Mukuro," He said, and followed her into the next room.

EPILOGUE

Norkie was feeling very pleased with himself as he and his companions rode their moas out of Yomi's city.

He had suitably avenged the dead, and saved a number of people from future attacks. Yomi had survived his deballing, which was unfortunate, but that was all right.

If he ever got his bits back and started getting back up to his old tricks, there would always be someone to teach him the error of his ways.

Defender of the unwary, protector of the vulnerable and all-around cute fuzzy thing, Ninja Norkie!

To be continued....

That's the end of chapter eleven. REVIEW NOW! Okay?


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